Jar

Tsujimura Shiro first became interested in pottery while studying to be a painter in Tokyo. He rejected the notion of apprenticing with an established master or attending art school, and instead launched out on his own. After sequestering himself in a Zen temple, he began to teach himself about clay, ultimately building his own studio and several kilns in Nara. For this vessel, he used the feldspathic clay typical of the Shigaraki area and fired it in a wood-burning kiln, which resulted in the dramatic rivulets of natural ash glaze that decorate its surface.