Takahashi Rakusai IV Shigaraki Yabure-bukuro Water Jar, Box Inscribed by Horiuchi Sokan

A limited Shigaraki "yabure-bukuro" (burst-bag) mizusashi by Takahashi Rakusai IV, with matching ceramic lid and a box inscription by Horiuchi Sokan (Kenchusai) of the Omotesenke Horiuchi house.

The Takahashi Rakusai family has worked in Shigaraki for five generations. The fourth head, Mitsuo (born 1925), was designated a Traditional Craftsman in 1976. The burst-bag form, with its slumped, torn-looking body, is one of the most admired shapes in wabi tea ceramics, and Shigaraki's coarse, feldspar-flecked clay gives it a rugged, earthy surface.

Details

• Artist: Takahashi Rakusai IV (高橋楽斎), Shigaraki
• Box inscription: Horiuchi Sokan (Kenchusai)
• Lid: matching ceramic lid (tomobuta)
• Size: approx. 16.8 cm diameter × 18.3 cm high
• Box: wooden box
• Condition: new, limited piece

Watch: wood-firing Shigaraki ware in an anagama

A film following Shigaraki potter Shinohara Nozomi through his anagama wood-firing process, from COMMONS | Stories from Japan. (A general craft video — not this piece or maker.)

Please read before ordering

• One of a kind. We confirm availability with the dealer in Japan within one business day of your order; if it has sold we refund in full immediately.
• Ships from New Jersey in 2–3 weeks. Price includes all import duties. Fully insured, signature required.
• Professionally double-boxed for shipping.