Bizen Guinomi

This Bizen sake cup is the work of the master craftsman Mitsuru Isezaki, a man who loved Bizen ware and made immense contributions to the region. True to Isezaki’s philosophy that the virtue of Bizen lies in the quality of the clay—leading him to persistently use only high-grade paddy soil—the piece appears quite understated at first glance but possesses a remarkably warm, earthen texture. Fired in an anagama (tunnel kiln) with straw wrapped around the piece to create a steamed-firing effect, a soft, hazy *hidasuki* (fire-cord) pattern drapes across the entire work. While the interior of the cup lacks the *hidasuki* markings, it features a warm, orange-toned clay finish that beautifully reflects the color of the sake. This piece follows a classic form favored by Isezaki, with shoulders that slightly taper toward an opening rim, making it both simple and highly functional. Signed wooden box (shiho-san) included
Diameter: 6.5cm × 6.4cm, Height: 6.3cm Mitsuru Isezaki was born in 1934 as the eldest son of the Intangible Cultural Property holder Yozan Isezaki. He learned pottery techniques from his father from a young age and later majored in sculpture at Okayama University’s special art program. As an authentic tea ceramicist, he pursued the aesthetics, clay qualities, and firing methods of the Momoyama period. Depending on the piece, he utilized both climbing kilns and medieval-style anagama kilns; he famously eschewed electric and gas kilns, insisting on firing his work exclusively with split pine wood. He became a regular member of the Japan Kōgei Association in 1964 and received the Toyo Kaneshige Award in 1974. In 1994, he was honored with the Sanyo Shimbun Cultural Merit Award, and in 1998, he won the 15th Tanabe Museum of Art Grand Prize. That same March, he was designated as a holder of the Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property. He passed away in August 2011 at the age of 77.
Awards: Toyo Kaneshige Award, Okayama Prefecture Cultural Encouragement Award, Sanyo Shimbun Award, Okayama Nichinichi Shimbun Arts and Culture Merit Award, Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Form Exhibition, and many others / Invited contributor to the Prefectural Art Exhibition