James Bowen on mon 29 oct 01
I saw the following descriptionn of a pot attributed to
Hamada:
"Extremely Rare Hamada Tall Vase. Made by Japanese artist
Shoji Hamada who died in the 1970's. Several books have been
written about the artist. This form can be found in
"Reflections of Hamada." Provenance: While in Japan the vase
was given to a collegue of Hamada. The vase remained in
Quebec for sometime and is now being offered. It is covered
in a textured glaze consisting of cobalt blue, gray and
brown forming streaks. A small kiln kiss to the rim,
otherwise superior condition. Marked with Hamada's trademark
impr. seashell marking to base. 11"h x 4"d."
What I am wondering about is the "impr. seashell marking".
Does anyone on the list know more about this? It has always
been my understanding that he did not mark his pots in any
way after the mid 1920's to identify the maker other than to
let them speak for themselves.
James Bowen
Boyero CO
jbowen43@yahoo.com
jbowen43@plains.net
Hank Murrow on mon 29 oct 01
james Bowen wrote;
>I saw the following descriptionn of a pot attributed to
>Hamada:
>"Extremely Rare Hamada Tall Vase. Made by Japanese artist
>Shoji Hamada who died in the 1970's. Several books have been
>written about the artist. This form can be found in
>"Reflections of Hamada." Provenance: While in Japan the vase
>was given to a collegue of Hamada. The vase remained in
>Quebec for sometime and is now being offered. It is covered
>in a textured glaze consisting of cobalt blue, gray and
>brown forming streaks. A small kiln kiss to the rim,
>otherwise superior condition. Marked with Hamada's trademark
>impr. seashell marking to base. 11"h x 4"d."
>What I am wondering about is the "impr. seashell marking".
>Does anyone on the list know more about this? It has always
>been my understanding that he did not mark his pots in any
>way after the mid 1920's to identify the maker other than to
>let them speak for themselves.
Dear James;
Mr.Hamada fired his salt pieces (undoubtedly the case here) on
shells filled with a sand and rice flour mixture. The shell was knocked off
after the firing to leave a mark behind. In other words, the 'mark' was an
artifact of his process, not a claim as to provenance. As always, any
claims as to provenance he left to those who worried about it. A delightful
man, teacher, and potter.
Regards, Hank in Eugene
Janet Kaiser on tue 30 oct 01
When Hamada returned to Japan in 1923, after helping
Leach to set up his pottery in St. Ives, he travelled
via Europe. He arrived home in 1924 and from that date,
he never signed another pot.
The mark he used up to then was known as the Character
Sho. I always thought this Sho was part of his name
Shoji, but am not certain about that!
If there is a shell impression, this is not actually a
potter's mark in the true sense and they are being very
misleading in their description of "Hamada's
trademark". Yes, he made pots which incidentally showed
shell impressions because he used them as stilts
instead of clay during salt firing, but they were part
of the making process, not intentional marks. The
catalogue description "It is covered in a textured
glaze consisting of cobalt blue, grey and brown forming
streaks", would tally with a salt-glaze, but is
obviously either written for the average
man-in-the-street or by one.
Even so, if it is a Hamada pot and has the Sho mark,
then it must pre-date 1924. Indeed, all his work at St.
Ives had two marks: the Character Sho and the St. Ives
SI monogram, so a single Hamada mark would actually
pre-date 1920, when he left Japan to travel to England
with Leach...
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
| |
|
