A fabulous sculptural vase by Ishijima Akihiko enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Kodai Kumo (ancient cloud).The vessel is of raw clay burnt black, the surface impressed with swirling patterns like that of ancient Jomon pottery.It is 47.5 x 13 x 36 cm (19 x 6 x 14 inches) and is in excellent condition.It comes with the original exhibition invitation upon which the piece is featured.
Ishijima Akihiko apprenticed under Kaneta Sanzaemon in Hagi in 1974 then moved to study in Denmark at the Royal Art Academy in 1979. Returning to Japan, he set up shop in the traditional pottery village of Mashiko in 1981. He has exhibited with the Nihon Togeiten National Ceramics Exhibition starting in 1987, receiving governors prize there in 2013. He was awarded at the 1989 Nihon Dento Shinsaku Kogeiten (National New Traditional Crafts Exhibition). In both 1995 and 1997 he was awarded top prize at the Tenri Biennale.And as the new century loomed on the horizon, he was selected for the traveling exhibition Togei no Genzi Ten (Ceramic Art Today) in Tokyo and Kyoto.
