Deep within an abstract forest misted with gold fog, an exquisite Mizusashi water jar for use in the Japanese Maccha Tea Ceremony by pioneering glass artist Ishii Koji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Tefuki Garassu Mizusashi. With incised signature on the base, it retains the original black lacquered wooden lid. The result evokes shifting atmospheres—mist, river-light, or windborne threads drawn across water—an effect that feels both seasonal and poetic rather than pictorial. The imagery is not decorative but atmospheric: resonant with the tea aesthetic of suggestion over declaration. In the context of chanoyu, this mizusashi mediates between purity and reflection; its interior holds the cool clarity of water, while its exterior gathers the transient play of light, aligning Ishii’s glass artistry with the contemplative sensibility of the tearoom. The rounded form is softly weighted toward the base, creating a sense of quiet rootedness, while a smooth, matte lacquer-black lid offers a striking but dignified counterpoint to the shimmering body. It is 18 cm (7-1/4 inches) diameter, 19 cm (7-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Ishii Koji (1946–1996) was born in Chiba Prefecture and graduated in 1971 from the Department of Metalwork, Faculty of Crafts, Tokyo University of the Arts, after which he joined Toyo Glass Co., where he helped establish its creative planning division. In 1972 he became a member of the Japan Glass Art Association and began teaching at Kuwasawa Design Institute. From the mid-1970s he emerged as a leading figure in the early studio-glass movement in Japan, participating in landmark exhibitions such as The Glass of Japan – From Antiquity to the Present at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art (1974), international workshops including “Working With Hot Glass” at the Royal College of Art in London (1976), and the World Craft Council Conference in Kyoto (1978). He won major early recognition at the Chiba Prefectural Art Exhibition, receiving both the Ichihara Mayor’s Prize (1977) and Yachiyo Mayor’s Prize (1980). In 1977 he left Toyo Glass to work independently, producing blown-glass works in collaboration with Hokuyo Glass in Aomori while also lecturing widely and contributing to the emergence of a domestic hot-glass culture. Throughout the 1980s he remained active in invitational and juried exhibitions nationwide, took part in cross-cultural craft initiatives sponsored by the Japan Foundation, and received multiple design awards for bottle and packaging commissions, most notably the “iichiko” line for Sanwa Shurui (1985). In 1989 he founded Ishii Glass Studio and later opened a dedicated studio in Aomori, further establishing his position within the maturing Japanese studio-glass movement. His work was shown internationally, including in New York at Heller Gallery as part of Japanese Studio Glass. Ishii died suddenly in 1996; his works are held by major public institutions including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; the Aomori Prefectural Art Museum; the Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art; the Toyama Glass Art Museum; and the Narukawa Art Museum.
