Large Contemporary Ceramic Tsubo Jar by Kai Tsujimura

A massive stoneware tsubo floor jar created by Japanese contemporary ceramic artist Kai Tsujimura (1976-). The heavy jar with its impressive volume was made in the tradition of Iga ware with local coarse sandy clay that turned reddish after the firing. It took its shape from heavy medieval storage jars with a wide-open mouth. For a nearly identical form, see an Echizen jar from Heian period (794–1185) in the collection of MET (Accession Number: 1977.261). The surface showcases scattered white crystalized feldspars and a green vitrified ash glaze cascade down the body (known as biidoro in Japanese - after the Portuguese word for glass vidoro). These is a globular shape impressed on the jar. It is a signature practice of the Tsujimura potter family by stacking bowls between the pieces in the kiln during the firing, resulting in an accidental but iconic aethetic (Kai and Yui Tsujimura, another well-known potter. are both sons of celebrated potter Shiro Tsujimura)
The tsubo is signed K on its shoulder and it comes with a wood plaque with the title "Natural Glaze Tsubo with wide mouth" on one side and signed and sealed Kai on the other side, both in Kanji.
Provenance: Ex-David Drabkin Collection. On loan: Yale University Art Gallery, 2018-2019