MEL JACOBSON on mon 14 jan 08
on more than one occasion mr. uchida asked (told)
me to make his work...sign his name. (small chop)
i had to make one hundred temmoku teabowls for a celebration
of a famous geisha woman. her 40th birthday. the bowls were
to be given to very famous artists from kyoto and tokyo..one was
the director of the national symphony. several poets, wood cutters
and a sword maker and, many potters. (names many of you would
recognize).each gave financial support to this geisha.
one hundred men at that party, and melsan.
so. i made 150 all the same. perfectly thrown teabowls.
trimmed them all the same.
loaded the small bisque kiln and fired them.
glazed them with his special bright temmoku...he fired them
all in the next glaze firing.
they were perfect.
i was pleased. all one hundred identical. all asymmetric the same.
loppy the same. (49 were saved to be given as gifts to special customers.)
he said....`melsan, we will go to the party together...suit and tie.`
so, he boxed them up, signed the boxes...big deal.
i loaded the hatch back with the pots. ( i drove.)
when we arrived he said, `melsan, you give the pots to all the
men, be polite, then you give a speech.` (translator was next
to me...)
he then gave me one of the boxes, with a pot i had made. lots of
bowing.
this was my speech.
`it is with great pleasure that i attend this party in honor
of this beautiful woman, and it is my pleasure to hand out
the work of my teacher, and the best gift of my stay in japan
is the gift of this chawan from my teacher. i will always treasure
it.` i made the pot. but, nothing would have been more impolite than to
tell anyone that fact. they were uchida teabowls..not mine.
nothing i made with his chop was mine...they were all his pots.
no one need know how it was made. the assumption was that he
made everything. keep it that way. he said. `perfect speech`..and
i knew he was testing me...big time. i passed that one. phew.
some of the finest potters in japan do not make their own pots.
they are designers. this is a very difficult concept, hard for
western people to understand. it is very hard to grasp this
idea. but, in a small factory(that is what they are called) there
may be 3-5 throwers working full time, throwing 30-40 pots and hour.
all for the master potter. that was my job. throwing 20-30 pots and
hour. when trimming time came, we just trimmed whatever was on
the board. they were not the pots i had thrown. just pots...designed
by my teacher. all thrown and trimmed to perfection. you could
not tell what i made, or imahori, or tanabie made. all the same.
the value of a board of pots was immense. he sold everything we
could make.
just the way it was.
mel
one important thought...i could travel with mr. uchida, be with
him socially. i had a master's degree and was a professional teacher.
then, as his apprentice, it gave me an acceptable status. i was
accepted totally. but, i shut up, sat in the corner, did what i was
told. we had 11 openings of his work that year. my pots from
minnetonka were shown in every exhibit..they were mine. my solo
show in tokyo was a combination of minnetonka pots and uchida
fired pots of my design. it also included 25 paintings.
he arranged everything, and told me what to make...he said.
`melsan, my cheeks cannot be red`...and, he meant it.
James and Sherron Bowen on mon 14 jan 08
Not every piece signed LCT was made by Louis Comfort Tiffany either. You can
bet nothing left Tiffany Studios that embarrassed Mr. Tiffany. Same for
Emile Galle.
JB
----- Original Message -----
From: "MEL JACOBSON"
To:
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 2:17 PM
Subject: making my teacher's work
Maggie Jones on tue 15 jan 08
right....the whole art and crafts movement was all about that type of
production. designer,artist , craftsmen ...a craftsfirm in revolt of the
industrial revolution.
Maggie.
On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:38:44 -0700 James and Sherron Bowen
writes:
> Not every piece signed LCT was made by Louis Comfort Tiffany either.
> You can
> bet nothing left Tiffany Studios that embarrassed Mr. Tiffany. Same
> for
> Emile Galle.
> JB
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "MEL JACOBSON"
> To:
> Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 2:17 PM
> Subject: making my teacher's work
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
> Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, or change
> your
> subscription settings here: http://www.acers.org/cic/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots2@visi.com
>
>
Taylor Hendrix on tue 15 jan 08
I make absolutely nothing BUT my teacher's work whether I like it or
not. Many ways to take that, but take it you must.
Taylor, in Rockport TX
On 1/14/08, MEL JACOBSON wrote:
> on more than one occasion mr. uchida asked (told)
> me to make his work...sign his name. (small chop)
...
Maggie Jones on tue 15 jan 08
I didn go to college but I spent 6 days a week 6 hrs a day working for a
"studio potter" and signing her name to the pots I made...one year at the
age of 18. best education on pottery...and the business of.... I have
had.
One time she had to take back a crateful of baking dishes that I had
made. The owner of the gallery delivered them personally. he was
miffed...said Look, these handles are flimsy...and pryed one, it broke
and sliced his thumb....bloody!
well, she took the credit...her name...her quality control!
handles?... 30+ yrs later of practice and I am proud of mine now.
maggie
On Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:17:48 -0600 Taylor Hendrix
writes:
> I make absolutely nothing BUT my teacher's work whether I like it or
> not. Many ways to take that, but take it you must.
>
> Taylor, in Rockport TX
>
> On 1/14/08, MEL JACOBSON wrote:
> > on more than one occasion mr. uchida asked (told)
> > me to make his work...sign his name. (small chop)
> ...
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
> Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, or change
> your
> subscription settings here: http://www.acers.org/cic/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots2@visi.com
>
>
Steve Slatin on fri 15 feb 08
Mel --
I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner to this -- I got the
flu, got way behind on all sorts of things, had to
sleep on the couch so my wife (very light sleeper)
could get through the night, then, as I was just
recovering, she brought me a puppy as a birthday
present.
Now you have to understand I've been whining
for a dog for six years or so, and I thought she'd
never give in, but I had an idea in my mind --
going to the shelter, finding a small to small-medium
dog, probably 2-3-4 years old, probably a fixed
female, in need of a home, and taking the
dog home and introducing her to my largely
sedentary life style. I was thinking of maybe
two walks a day with a scottie on a leash,
basically.
The Dear One got me a male, unfixed, german
shorthair pointer puppy. She picked him
because a former coworker came by with
a van-load of puppies, and thought he was
cute. Well, he is, but he's athletic (I am
not) energetic (I am not) vigorous (I am not),
playful, and uncontrolled.
I haven't been to my studio since the first
week of January. And I haven't been
responding to lots of e-mail, at least
not that which requires thought. And
that leads me to my thought here --
The message I'm replying to is an
extraordinary explication of just a little
piece of the complex relationship between
a Japanese master and US apprentice. I
saved it and re-read it several times,
because it relates to something that I've
never been a part of. The unguided test
Mr. Uchida gave you was to see if you
knew how to behave yourself in public --
if, in spite of your US pedigree, you
could do what an apprentice *should*
do in the presence of high-ranking
guests. (He obviously believed you
knew what to do, or he wouldn't have
exposed himself to the possible
embarassment.) The other potters
probably suspected that you'd had
a part in making the chawan, but
would have respected that fundamentally
it was nobody's business who centered
the clay, it was everyone's business
that Mr. Uchida accepted the quality
of the work.
So thank you for this wonderful story,
which is going to a folder of things that
don't get deleted -- and please forgive
my slow reply. I've still got about 40
messages in the queue, but it's over
two hours since the last dog-walk, and
the sun's up now, and it's time to take
the first extended run of the day.
Best wishes -- Steve S
MEL JACOBSON wrote:
on more than one occasion mr. uchida asked (told)
me to make his work...sign his name. (small chop)
i had to make one hundred temmoku teabowls for a celebration
of a famous geisha woman. her 40th birthday. the bowls were
to be given to very famous artists from kyoto and tokyo..one was
the director of the national symphony. several poets, wood cutters
and a sword maker and, many potters. (names many of you would
recognize).each gave financial support to this geisha.
one hundred men at that party, and melsan.
so. i made 150 all the same. perfectly thrown teabowls.
trimmed them all the same.
loaded the small bisque kiln and fired them.
glazed them with his special bright temmoku...he fired them
all in the next glaze firing.
they were perfect.
i was pleased. all one hundred identical. all asymmetric the same.
loppy the same. (49 were saved to be given as gifts to special customers.)
he said....`melsan, we will go to the party together...suit and tie.`
so, he boxed them up, signed the boxes...big deal.
i loaded the hatch back with the pots. ( i drove.)
when we arrived he said, `melsan, you give the pots to all the
men, be polite, then you give a speech.` (translator was next
to me...)
he then gave me one of the boxes, with a pot i had made. lots of
bowing.
this was my speech.
`it is with great pleasure that i attend this party in honor
of this beautiful woman, and it is my pleasure to hand out
the work of my teacher, and the best gift of my stay in japan
is the gift of this chawan from my teacher. i will always treasure
it.` i made the pot. but, nothing would have been more impolite than to
tell anyone that fact. they were uchida teabowls..not mine.
nothing i made with his chop was mine...they were all his pots.
no one need know how it was made. the assumption was that he
made everything. keep it that way. he said. `perfect speech`..and
i knew he was testing me...big time. i passed that one. phew.
some of the finest potters in japan do not make their own pots.
they are designers. this is a very difficult concept, hard for
western people to understand. it is very hard to grasp this
idea. but, in a small factory(that is what they are called) there
may be 3-5 throwers working full time, throwing 30-40 pots and hour.
all for the master potter. that was my job. throwing 20-30 pots and
hour. when trimming time came, we just trimmed whatever was on
the board. they were not the pots i had thrown. just pots...designed
by my teacher. all thrown and trimmed to perfection. you could
not tell what i made, or imahori, or tanabie made. all the same.
the value of a board of pots was immense. he sold everything we
could make.
just the way it was.
mel
one important thought...i could travel with mr. uchida, be with
him socially. i had a master's degree and was a professional teacher.
then, as his apprentice, it gave me an acceptable status. i was
accepted totally. but, i shut up, sat in the corner, did what i was
told. we had 11 openings of his work that year. my pots from
minnetonka were shown in every exhibit..they were mine. my solo
show in tokyo was a combination of minnetonka pots and uchida
fired pots of my design. it also included 25 paintings.
he arranged everything, and told me what to make...he said.
`melsan, my cheeks cannot be red`...and, he meant it.
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