Bizen Sueki Tall Cup

This is a Bizen Sue-style pedestal bowl by Sōhō Yoshimoto, an artist who has captivated Bizen fans with his Sueki-style works. It is a highly original piece that pays homage to the Sueki pottery that was the mainstream before the Kamakura period. The blue-gray surface of the Sue ware is scattered with faintly shimmering "grain sesame" (tsubugoma) ash glaze, resulting in a hard-textured finish. Its shape, reminiscent of a miniature wine glass, combines with the character of Sueki to evoke the primitive beauty of an ancient ritual vessel. Signed wooden box (double-braced)
Diameter 7.5cm × Diameter 7.4cm × Height 9.7cm Sōhō Yoshimoto began his pottery training in 1965 under his cousin, Yoshirō Fujita. He established his own climbing kiln in 1972 and went independent. In 1977, he built an anagama (tunnel kiln) and adopted a Muromachi-period style. In 1981, fascinated by the roots of Bizen ware, he constructed an anagama specifically for Sueki-style pottery and succeeded in reduction firing. That same year, he was accepted as a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association. He actively holds solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Nagoya, Okayama, and other regions.
He has received numerous awards, including the Kaneshige Tōyō Prize, the Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Culture Award, the Prefectural Art Exhibition Award, the Sanyō Shimbun President's Award and Prefectural Board of Education Superintendent's Award at the Bigeikai Exhibition, and has had works selected for the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition.