A Strong, Beautiful Iga Ware Guinomi

[sabi]

Up for grabs today is a phenomenal guinomi by a potter who has devoted his life to clay, Isamu Umehara.   Done in the style of Ko-Iga and using rugged, hand-dug kinose clay this piece is strong in the hand without being too heavy.  Highly desirable of this type, many of the natural feldspathic stones have come to the surface (ishihaze) during the brutal, days-long firing process.  The range of natural ash glaze colors that now coat the cup run the full spectrum of Iga from textbook green bidoro, to the warm tones that evoke an autumn forest floor.   This piece was gifted a name by its creator, something reserved for the best works, which is "Koma".  This is the Japanese word for a spinning top, and perfectly suits the roughly triangular and proud form this guinomi displays.  This word can also mean January, and as it was fired in that month I believe the name to be a play on both, as is typical in Japanese culture.    This magnificent example is what I would call a normal sake cup size at 7 x 4 cm and comes with its original box, paperwork and poem, for which I will provide the translation to the buyer.   Asking $OLD net via Paypal, shipped anywhere in the World.  Below average sake cups are the norm for this range, with very few at this level and especially ones that the artist considers to be a representative work.   Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional pics.  Thanks for looking!