(Fan-shaped Plate)

Kitao_ji Rosanjin is considered by many to be the premier Japanese potter of the twentieth century. He had already earned a reputation as a talented calligrapher when he became interested in tableware through his association with the renowned Tokyo restaurant Hoshigaoka. He experimented widely with traditional styles, and was adept at reproducing the spirit of historic ceramics. Here, Rosanjin based his design on a type of ceramic originally championed by the tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), which featured innovative shapes irregularly decorated by dipping a portion of the form into a glaze mixture. After firing, these brilliant, grass green areas contrasted nicely with casual paintings in iron brown.