1 2 3 4 5
So what are we looking at? Is this pot a case of the tradition reinvented, or the tradition diluted? We all know what we like. And we like what we know. But, if we are to increase our own knowledge and appreciation of this work, to become individuals whose taste and judgment are guided by true insight, we have to accept this invitation to become connoisseurs.
The first thing we must acquire is an appetite for foreign orthodoxy. The second is a willingness to shed long-held beliefs about what constitutes a serious or noble pot. Some of us resist becoming connoisseurs. It sounds a little effete. So, let me put it another way. You can’t peel a banana until you separate it from the bunch. That’s the way it is with these pots. We have to pull them out, one at a time, and see the differences that make a difference. In doing that, we learn to make sense of somebody else’s experience, to value somebody else’s values.
With some effort, we will find ourselves in conversation with these Kenzan potters, editing some of their misstatements or overstatements. It will tap the best in us to synthesize the more complex and literal pieces in this collection. By comparison, the few, very restrained black raku pots will require us to elaborate on their significance and potency. They seem so plain. Can we see beyond their disguise and find the content? Can we recognize the Chinese subtext in these Japanese pots? Wilson is a very effective teacher on these questions.
The teabowl pictured here (on page 60) represents the Kenzan style vessels done in the mid to late 1700s. The design element utilizes the scroll approach applied to a cylindrical form. The result is a hemispheric strategy; one view a picture, the other, a text. Simple, but dramatic. Looking closely, we see how the pot’s images work with and then beyond the white ground. The cobalt is subdued.
For Potters
While many kiln sites from 17th-century Japan have been paved over by 20th-century industrialization, a few that produced Kenzan ware remain, and Wilson has personally taken part in the excavation and assessment of the findings. Their significance is clearly illustrated in a chapter entitled “Potters’ Perspectives.” Wilson was a potter for ten years before becoming an art historian. He knows what to include here, and his descriptions of techniques and processes are spot on. Some of this information is transcribed from Kenzan’s own notes. Further, through the use of electron-beam analysis, Wilson offers irrefutable evidence of various body and glaze compositions.
The Book
This text—available for $34 through the Freer Gallery shop, (202) 357-4880, extension 414—is beautifully photographed, generously illustrated, and has large margins for easy reading and notetaking. Almost every pot in the collection is shown from several angles, including the bottom. As a note to myself, I am going to give more attention to the bottoms of my work. Having seen this collection, I am not sure well trimmed and neatly glazed is going to continue to satisfy me. These Kenzan potters saved some nice things for the foot rings and bottoms of their pieces.
1 2 3 4 5
Previous | Next
