Plate
This large rectangular plate, with a variant of checkered pattern in contrasting colors of clay, is a product of the Sekisui family kiln in Aikawa, on Sado Island. The artist, Itō Sekisui V, is the 14th generation craftsman in a family of potters; he was designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government in 2003. Like his Itō family predecessors, he works with a type of ochre clay called mumyōi, a byproduct of Sado Island’s gold mines. Red mumyōi clay contains a high level of iron oxide and fires to a deep rusty-red shade, as seen in this vessel. Sekisui is a skilled master of neriage, one of his signature techniques, which involves kneading or wedging different colored clays together and then slicing cross sections to reveal a marbled pattern. The sliced clay is then pieced together, resulting in ceramics that have the appearance almost of painted wares.
Artwork Details
- Title: Plate
- Artist: Itō Sekisui V (Japanese, born 1941)
- Period: Heisei period (1989–2019)
- Date: 2004
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Marblelized stoneware
- Dimensions: H. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm); W. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm); L. 27 1/2 in. (69.9 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics
- Credit Line: Gift of Ruth Ziegler, 2021
- Object Number: 2021.177
- Rights and Reproduction: © Itō Sekisui V
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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