Hikidashi-Guro Five-Sided Matcha Bowl

The Hikidashi-guro Five-Sided Matcha Bowl carries the deep, velvety darkness of Bizen ware transformed by fire and sudden cold. Its surface is rich with the intensity of a technique that pushes both clay and craft to their limits.

From a pentagonal foot, the form unfolds into five softly flowing panels, each one stretching and curving organically upward to shape a vessel that feels both structured and alive. In conceiving this design, the artist Mori Toshiaki drew upon the philosophical balance of yin and yang: straight lines embody yin, while curves represent yang; the cool, subdued tone signifies yin, while the odd number of the pentagon's five sides represents yang. In this piece, these opposites are brought into harmony within a single unified form.

The hikidashi-guro technique, a method with roots in Seto and Mino ware, was long considered outside the traditions of Bizen. Because Bizen clay is particularly fine-grained, it is inherently vulnerable to sudden thermal change, making the process prone to cracking; for this reason, the technique was historically seen as incompatible with, even taboo within, the Bizen tradition. Yet after approximately five years of dedicated experimentation, Mori developed the skill to achieve his intended surface effects with consistency and intention, producing results that were once thought impossible in this clay.

The process itself is elemental. The vessel is drawn from the kiln at the height of firing, while the clay still glows with heat, and plunged into a bed of rice husks to cool rapidly. This sudden transition from extreme heat to smothered darkness arrests the surface in a state of deep, lustrous black.

Mori brings together a profound respect for Bizen tradition with the willingness to work at its edges, finding in that tension a beauty entirely his own.

Mori Toshiaki

Parmi les prestigieuses lignées connues sous le nom de Bizen Rokusei, ou Six Anciens Fours de la Céramique de Bizen, le Four Hozan s'impose comme une institution vénérable. Mori Toshiaki, successeur de la 19e génération, perpétue magistralement cette riche tradition tout en ouvrant de nouvelles perspectives. Conciliant ses responsabilités au four avec ses activités artistiques personnelles, Mori mène des recherches approfondies et explore des approches innovantes en matière de techniques de façonnage et de cuisson, repoussant ainsi les limites de la céramique de Bizen.

Céramique de Bizen

La céramique de Bizen est un grès traditionnel produit dans la région d'Imbe, dans la préfecture d'Okayama. C'est l'une des plus anciennes céramiques du Japon et elle est fabriquée selon les techniques traditionnelles. yakishime technique dans laquelle les pièces sont cuites à haute température sans glaçure pour les rendre durables et résistantes à l'eau.

La céramique de Bizen est appelée « l'art de l'argile et du feu » en raison des couleurs et des motifs exquis produits par les flammes du four, et se caractérise par son design minimaliste wabi sabi.