A white heron stands as a solitary centurion in the vast twilight of autumn on this exquisite Utsutsugawa-yaki tea bowl by Yokoishi Gagyu XIII enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Chawan. It is 13 cm (just over 5 inches) diameter, 6.5 cm (2-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
His first exhibited piece at the age of 20 in 1955 took the governors prize at the Nagasaki Kenten Prefectural Art Exhibition. That was the beginning of a prestigious career prolific with awards culminating in being named an important cultural property for Nagasaki prefecture in 1975 (the state version of a living national treasure) he has also displayed with the Nihon Dento Kogeiten (National Traditional Crafts Exhibition) among many others, and has an impressive number of private exhibitions. He is credited with reviving the lost art of Utsutsukawa-yaki, and is a very important figure in modern Arita.
