{"product_id":"natural-ash-glazed-echizen-vase-ー西浦-武-越前-花入","title":"Natural Ash Glazed Echizen Vase ー西浦 武 “越前 花入”","description":"\u003cp\u003eA powerful and highly sculptural Echizen flower vessel by Nishiura Takeshi enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled simply Echizen Hanaire. Its tall, roughly cylindrical body rises to an extraordinary cup-like mouth perched above the shoulder. Rather than concealing the processes of construction, Nishiura makes them central to the work: seams, paddled and incised surfaces, attached lugs, irregular joins and deeply impressed geometric marks remain conspicuously visible, giving the vessel something of the character of an ancient excavated object. The surface has been transformed by the anagama firing into a remarkably complex landscape of smoky charcoal brown, moss and olive green, pale ash and warm ochre. Natural wood ash has settled and melted unevenly across the clay, creating passages of granular green glass beside dry, almost stone-like areas, while dark rivulets descend vertically through the lighter surface. The dramatically swollen mouth is particularly beautiful, its heavy rolled rim surrounding a deep well of accumulated ash and fire markings. Around the base, thick fragments and scars of firing remain, evidence of the vessel's prolonged encounter with flame, ash and the kiln itself. Nishiura's work draws upon the rugged medieval character of Echizen ware without attempting to reproduce it; instead, the vocabulary of ancient jars, firing scars and coarse utilitarian pottery is transformed into something deliberately individual and sculptural. This exceptional vessel measures 15.3 x 16 cm (6 x 6-1\/4 inches) diameter and 36 cm (14-1\/8 inches) tall, in excellent condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNishiura Takeshi was born in Fukui prefecture in 1941, and graduated the Law Department of the prestigious Tokyo University in 1965.  A decade later, he did an about face and began to follow the path of the potter establishing his first kiln in Echizen in 1975.  Later he created a traditional Ana-gama kiln in 1982, where he works with his wife Nakazawa Yoko.  He has concentrated on private exhibition, and is one of the few contemporary potters (and my personal favorite) making waves in the world of Echizen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nishiura Takeshi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51337284845815,"sku":"MC1793","price":174700.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0658\/7472\/3063\/files\/2026-09-0716.51.24.jpg?v=1792208406","url":"https:\/\/kuramonzen.com\/products\/natural-ash-glazed-echizen-vase-%e3%83%bc%e8%a5%bf%e6%b5%a6-%e6%ad%a6-%e8%b6%8a%e5%89%8d-%e8%8a%b1%e5%85%a5","provider":"Kura Monzen Gallery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}