Tokuda Yasokichi

Last updated

Tokuda Yasokichi
Born(1873-11-20)20 November 1873
Died20 February 1956(1956-02-20) (aged 82)
NationalityJapanese
Known forCrafting pottery
Style Kutani ware

Tokuda Yasokichi I (20 November 1873 – 20 February 1956)(徳田八十吉) was a Japanese potter. He was born in near present day Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture. [1] The area was made famous by the Kutani mines, the source of the clays utilized to make kutani ware.

Contents

At the time of his birth, Kutani ware was the leading export of ceramic items from Japan; however, the quality had dropped since it was first produced in 1655 [2] during the early Edo period. [3] Older, kutani ceramics, termed ko-kutani, was painted in great detail using five bold colours called the five colours of ko-kutani. These colours, dark green, deep blue, red, yellow, and purple [4] made it stand out from other ceramic wares. [2] Further, Yoshidaya style, renowned for its use of translucent pigment and delicate painting style, [5] had been abandoned after only a brief flourish from 1824 to 1831. [6] This style never contains the color red. [7]

Tokuda Yasokichi I began his studies in Japanese-style painting under Tannrei Kano in 1888. At the age of 17, he began an apprenticeship under Sahira Matsumoto, a potter from Komatsu, who had already began a push to restore the quality of kutani ware to its former glory. [3] Matsumoto trained Yasokichi I in the art of ceramic painting in the ko-kutani style. His works became indistinguishable from ko-kutani and the Yoshidaya style so he began to sign them to help keep them differentiated. [1]

Supposedly, Tokuda Yasokichi I kept the formulations for the glazes he utilized secret and only handed them down within the family. [8]

In 1953, he was awarded the title Nationally Important Intangible Cultural Property Keeper which is better known as a Living National Treasure. [9]

Successors:

Tokuda Yasokichi II, (Momokichi), (二代徳田八十吉) (1907-1997)

In 1923, when he was a teenager, Tokuda Yasokichi II was adopted by Tokuda Yasokichi I. [10] He learned Kutani ware from his father and demonstrated his abilities by submitting works to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Craft Exhibition. After the death of his father, in 1956, he took on the formal name Tokuda Yasokichi II. In 1975, he was certified as an intangible cultural property designated by Ishikawa Prefecture. In 1988 he handed over the Yasokichi title to his eldest son Masahiko, after which he called himself Momokichi.

Tokuda Yasokichi III, (born Masahiko), (三代徳田八十吉), (1933–2009)

Masahiko was the first son of Tokuda Yasokichi II. He began learning ceramics when he was 20 under the instruction of both his father and grandfather. When Masahiko was 22 years old, his grandfather is said to have passed a document to him containing the secret formulas to preparing over 100 different shades of glaze colours. [11] He is said to have interpreted the Kutani in a new way with abstract, colourful designs. [12] In 1977, he received the Grand Prize for his work "Yosaibachi," exhibited at the 24th Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. In 1982, Masahiko succeeded his father and formally became Tokuda Yasokichi III.

In 1986, he was named a Bearer of Important Intangible Cultural Assets by Ishikawa Prefecture for his Kutani ware. In the 1980's, after switching over to an electric kiln, he made a mistake during a firing and forgot to switch the kiln off at the normal time. As a consequence when the error was finally caught, the ceramics within the kiln had been heated to a far higher temperature than normal and held at that temperature a long time. [8] This caused the glazes to liquify and adjacent glazes to blend together. Instead of an abrupt colour change between different glaze colours, there was now a colour gradient. Further, the piece as a whole took on the appearance of blown glass. To make some of his advanced works, he first created a fine pattern, termed komon, inlayed into the work before glazing.

The blending of multiple glaze colours, yusai, was termed saiyu. According to the Handbook for the Appreciation of Japanese Traditional Crafts, the term saiyu is the more proper of the two terms and is characterized by delicate shading and a beautiful contrast of glaze colours that fuse together into a gradient upon a bisque that was previously fired at a high temperature. [13] In 1997 Tokuda Yasokichi III was recognized as a Living National Treasure for his saiyu glaze technique. [14] [15] His works are held in many museums, including the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [16]

Suntory, a Japanese whisky manufacturer, commissioned Yasokichi III to produce a limited addition of 150 saiyu style glazed bottles named “Hekiyo” for a 35 year-old Hibiki whiskey blend. [17] [18]

Additionally, there are works that appear to have been produced by Tokuda Yasokichi III that produced by firms like the Musubi Kiln located in the Nara Prefecture. Works like these tend to be either unsigned or produced with a red marking for the firm. The firm Musubi Kiln utilizes the term saiyu for Yasokichi III's innovation. [20]

Tokuda Yasokichi IV, (born Junko), (第代徳田八十吉), (1961–)

Yasokichi III was succeeded by his daughter Junko . [8] Junko studied Kutani Pottery in her twenties at Ishikawa Prefectural Institute. [21] She reports she was greatly influenced by artist Nakamura Kinpei from Kanazawa who has created many works in the Tokyo-yaki style. In 2009, her work was selected for the traditional Japanese crafts exhibition. In 2010, she formally changed her name becoming Tokuda Yasokichi IV, to prevent it from becoming extinct. As a female head, she is exceptional among ceramic family dynasties in Japan. [22] In general, saiyu glazed works by Yasokichi IV can be differentiated from those of her father by her signature and her colour patterns. Yasokichi IV colours tend to be lighter and she will sometimes utilize reds, more yellow, or even whites, whereas colours selected by her father tend towards deep blues at the base of his works to light greens. In an article she was quoted as saying, "My father’s work was characterised by sharp lines, but I strive towards subtle changes to make my style more round and feminine." [21]

Approximately $76,000 USD sale of Tokuda Yasokichi III decanter at Sotheby's

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raku ware</span> Type of Japanese pottery traditionally used in tea ceremonies

Raku ware is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies, most often in the form of chawan tea bowls. It is traditionally characterised by being hand-shaped rather than thrown, fairly porous vessels, which result from low firing temperatures, lead glazes and the removal of pieces from the kiln while still glowing hot. In the traditional Japanese process, the fired raku piece is removed from the hot kiln and is allowed to cool in the open air.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ishikawa Prefecture</span> Prefecture of Japan

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,133,294 and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2. Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the east, Gifu Prefecture to the southeast, and Fukui Prefecture to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese pottery and porcelain</span> Overview of Japanese pottery and porcelain

Pottery and porcelain is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Types have included earthenware, pottery, stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptionally long and successful history of ceramic production. Earthenwares were made as early as the Jōmon period, giving Japan one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Japan is further distinguished by the unusual esteem that ceramics hold within its artistic tradition, owing to the enduring popularity of the tea ceremony. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573–1603), kilns throughout Japan produced ceramics with unconventional designs. In the early Edo period, the production of porcelain commenced in the Hizen-Arita region of Kyushu, employing techniques imported from Korea. These porcelain works became known as Imari wares, named after the port of Imari from which they were exported to various markets, including Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celadon</span> Term for ceramics with two different types of glazes

Celadon is a term for pottery denoting both wares glazed in the jade green celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware", and a type of transparent glaze, often with small cracks, that was first used on greenware, but later used on other porcelains. Celadon originated in China, though the term is purely European, and notable kilns such as the Longquan kiln in Zhejiang province are renowned for their celadon glazes. Celadon production later spread to other parts of East Asia, such as Japan and Korea, as well as Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand. Eventually, European potteries produced some pieces, but it was never a major element there. Finer pieces are in porcelain, but both the color and the glaze can be produced in stoneware and earthenware. Most of the earlier Longquan celadon is on the border of stoneware and porcelain, meeting the Chinese but not the European definitions of porcelain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imari ware</span> Type of Japanese porcelain ware

Imari ware is a Western term for a brightly-coloured style of Arita ware Japanese export porcelain made in the area of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe in large quantities, especially between the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century.

Traditionalcrafts in Japan have a long tradition and history. Included in the category of traditional crafts are handicrafts produced by an individual or a group, as well as work produced by independent studio artists working with traditional craft materials and/or processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bizen ware</span> Type of Japanese pottery

Bizen ware is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally from Bizen province, presently a part of Okayama prefecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oribe ware</span> Type of Japanese pottery

Oribe ware is a style of Japanese pottery that first appeared in the sixteenth century. It is a type of Japanese stoneware recognized by its freely-applied glaze as well as its dramatic visual departure from the more somber, monochrome shapes and vessels common in Raku ware of the time. The ceramics were often asymmetric, with eccentric shapes; deformed shapes were not uncommon. These shapes were achieved through moulding rather than turning on a potter's wheel. Some bowls were so deformed that they were difficult to use – even whisking tea could become difficult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese ceramics</span> Pottery and porcelain from China

Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese porcelain wares made for the imperial court and for export.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satsuma ware</span> Type of Japanese pottery

Satsuma ware is a type of Japanese pottery originally from Satsuma Province, southern Kyūshū. Today, it can be divided into two distinct categories: the original plain dark clay early Satsuma made in Satsuma from around 1600, and the elaborately decorated export Satsuma ivory-bodied pieces which began to be produced in the nineteenth century in various Japanese cities. By adapting their gilded polychromatic enamel overglaze designs to appeal to the tastes of western consumers, manufacturers of the latter made Satsuma ware one of the most recognized and profitable export products of Japan for centuries, and even became one of the key sources of funding for the Meiji period reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kutani ware</span> Style of Japanese pottery

Kutani ware is a style of Japanese porcelain traditionally supposed to be from Kutani, now a part of Kaga, Ishikawa, in the former Kaga Province. It is divided into two phases: Ko-Kutani, from the 17th and early 18th centuries, and Saikō-Kutani from the revived production in the 19th century. The more prestigious Ko-Kutani wares are recognised by scholars to be a complex and much mis-represented group, very often not from Kutani at all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seto ware</span>

Seto ware is a type of Japanese pottery, stoneware, and ceramics produced in and around the city of Seto in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The Japanese term for it, setomono, is also used as a generic term for all pottery. Seto was the location of one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iga ware</span> Style of Japanese pottery

Iga ware is a style of Japanese pottery traditionally produced in Iga, Mie, former Iga Province, central Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kasama ware</span>

Kasama-ware is a style of Japanese pottery made in Kasama, Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mino ware</span> Type of Japanese pottery

Mino ware is a style of Japanese pottery, stoneware, and ceramics that is produced in Mino Province, mainly in the cities of Tajimi, Toki, Mizunami, and Kani in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arita ware</span> Type of Japanese porcelain ware

Arita ware is a broad term for Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island. It is also known as Hizen ware after the wider area of the province. This was the area where the great majority of early Japanese porcelain, especially Japanese export porcelain, was made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koishiwara ware</span> Type of Japanese pottery

Koishiwara ware, formerly known as Nakano ware, is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally from Koishiwara, Fukuoka Prefecture in western Japan. Koishiwara ware consists of utility vessels such as bowls, plates, and tea cups. The style is often slipware.

Yūri-kinsai (釉裏金彩) is a gold leaf-application technique used in Japanese pottery and porcelain. It forms a transparent overglaze on gilded porcelain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kotō ware</span> Type of Japanese porcelain ware

Kotō ware is a type of Japanese porcelain traditionally made in Hikone, Shiga in the former Ōmi Province.

Kazuo Yagi was a Japanese potter and ceramic artist best known for spearheading the introduction of nonfunctional ceramic vessels to the Japanese pottery world. With an innovative ceramicist as his father, Yagi was sent to art school to study sculpture, instead of pottery. After graduating in 1937, he continued to train in the progressive circles, such as the National Ceramic Research Institute and the Japan Ceramic Sculpture Association. Following a short period of military service in 1939 and through the early postwar years, he was involved in a series of collectives that sought to transcend the traditional aesthetic values in not just ceramics but also in a range of visual media.

References

  1. 1 2 Jay (6 September 2018). "Shining Like a Star: How Tokuda Yasokichi Kutani Pottery Became Number One". OrientalSouls.com. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Ko-Kutani Ware, History of Japanese Kutani Ware". Japanese Kutani Store. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 "紫深厚釉 香炉 Tokuda YasokichiⅠ｜ARTISTS｜GALLERY ASUKA". gallery-asuka.jp. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ↑ "Kutani technique - The Kutani Ceramic Website". www.kutani.org. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "Art Styles of the Past Yoshidaya Kutani Decorative Plate". MUSUBI KILN. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  6. ↑ "Kutani-yaki Kiln Museum". Kutani-yaki Kiln Museum. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Kutani Aochibu & Shirochibu". MUSUBI KILN. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Karasawa, Masahiro. "Communicating the Beauty of Japan: The Pottery of Tokuda Yasokichi IV" (PDF). The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
  9. ↑ "Living National Treasure - The Kutani Ceramic Website". www.kutani.org. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "Tokuda Yasokichi 2nd 二代 徳田八十吉 – Dictionary of Japanese Potters" . Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  11. ↑ "耀彩花器 Yasokichi Tokuda｜ARTISTS｜GALLERY ASUKA". gallery-asuka.jp. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "Japanese Potter - Tokuda Yasokichi III (Kutani Ware)". E-yakimono.net. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Ceramics｜Japan Kogei Association". www.nihonkogeikai.or.jp. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "Joan B Mirviss LTD | Japanese Fine Art | Japanese Ceramics". Mirviss.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "Tokuda Yasokichi III (1933–2009) | ONISHI GALLERY | New York". Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  16. ↑ "Collection | the Metropolitan Museum of Art". Archived from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Bonhams : Hibiki ceramic-35 year old-Tokuda Yasokichi III". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  18. ↑ "Buy Suntory Hibiki whiskey 35 Year Old Arita Edition online". WHISKEY ONLINE COLLECTION. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  19. 1 2 "Kutani ware living national treasure Yasokichi Tokuda, third generation". Art Kaitori.
  20. ↑ "Kutani Ware Styles Born from Japan's Modernization". MUSUBI KILN. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  21. 1 2 "Adventuring with Ceramics- Life as Tokuda Yasokichi, and the Traditions of "Japan Kutani" Ware". Gen De Art. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  22. ↑ "Tokuda Yasokichi III". Japanesedesign.pl. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2021.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.