High-fired unglazed hand-built flower container

Matsuo Jun’s educational path exemplifies the eclectic training enjoyed by contemporary Japanese potters. Although he is the eldest son of the porcelain ceramist Matsuo Shigetoshi (1934–2019), he opted to attend Saga Junior Art College and then apprenticed with Kyoto potter Iwabuchi Shigeya (1925–1993). Matsuo then returned home in 1985 to work at his father’s kiln until 1991 before establishing his own kiln in Takeo, Saga Prefecture. This vessel, based on the shape of a traditional wooden bucket, Matsuo hand-built and fired at high temperature without glaze, in a manner closely akin to Bizen or Tokoname ware.