When visiting Kato Tsubusa recently, we were caught by this small cup sitting on his work bench which had an unusual Tsubusa stamp in the bottom. Inquiring into the stamp Tsubusa said “Yes I used to be very serious, I made that when I was 19, just starting into Hakuji”. Well, we had to have that! It is 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) diameter, 8 cm (3-1/4 inches) tall and in perfect condition, directly from the artist.
Kato Tsubusa was born in Tajimi city, the home of Shino, in 1962, graduating the municipal Pottery Design and Technical Center in 1979.From then to 1983 he worked as a decorator at the Otai Kiln moving out on his own in 1984. In 2007 he was selected for the Paramita Museum Ceramic Exhibition, and established his current ki;n in 2009. 2013 was an auspicious year, with him being awarded the 7th Enku Taishoten and the Japan Ceramic Society Award. He has been displayed at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, The Chunichi Kokusai Togei Ten (Chunichi International Ceramics Exhibition) and The Asahi Togei Ten as well as private exhibitions overseas (New York among others).Work by him is held in the Aichi Ceramics Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, The Brooklyn Museum, The Gifu Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, the Ibaraki Ceramic art Museum, the Musee Tomo in Tokyo, the Victoria & Albert Museum among othersFor more on this important artist see Toh, Volume 85 (1993), which is entirely dedicated to him.Also Quiet Clarity “RIN” (1996), or Fired with passion: Contemporary Ceramics of Japan (2007).
