Glaze drapes about the finger scored surface of this Sake cup by Atarashi Manabu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Chossen Karatsu Guinomi. Slightly misshapen, it is 7.5 cm (roughly 3 inches) diameter, 6 cm (2-1/2 inches) tall and in perfect condition, directly from the artist this summer. An excellent paring with the Tokkuri in the same style on offer.
Atarashi Manabu has been growing in popularity as one of the leaders in the Iga pottery tradition since the first time I saw his work nearly 20 years ago when visiting the family showroom in Iga village. Born in 1973 in Osaka son of the second generation artist and one of the leading revivalists of the Iga tradition in post war Japan, Atarashi Kanji. He graduated the literature department of Kansai University in 1995, moving to apprentice under his father a few years later. In 2002 he built his first anagama Kiln, and held his first of a multitude of solo exhibitions. Intensely fired multiple times to achieve the bidoro glass puddles and landscape effects which define his aesthetic, the geometric works add a contemporary sensibility to the traditional Iga style and transcend the realm of utilitarian crafts breaking into the sculptural domain. His work has proven innovative and challenging to the norm, taking his fathers tradition into the 21st century.
