pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on mon 29 sep 03
by Lee, too...
Hi Lee,
And you too deserve a thoughtful response!
Which being...
Okay...then how much are the little 'Tea Bowls' made by the
'right' Masters tending to get sold for? What kind of output
have some of these 'Masters' of items as sell for that
range? Are these items yes-or-no often made by 'apprentices'
and, when they fit-the-bill, the 'Master' puts his chop on
the thing?
Will you tell us?
Thanks Lee,
Phil
Las Vegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Love"
> Hi Phil,
>
> I knew you could write in a less inflammatory way.
Thank you!
> You deserve a thoughtful response.
>
> There are very few rich potters in Japan. You are
mistaken when you
> think that this pottery where all the money is. A very
few people doing
> financially well happens in any craft appreciated here in
Japan. It's
> like Rock Stars or BasketBall players back in America.
Lotsa people play a
> guitar or own a basketball, but not many of them make much
money from it.
> When you say you heard a bout a potter who owned Rolexes
and Rolls, it made
> me think of the apocryphal "Welfare Cadillacs." I grew
up with poor people
> and none of them owned Cadillacs, but it makes great
fodder for Straw Men
> arguments.
>
> Most of my potter friends, even ones who
studied with famous
> people, are have a difficult time getting by without other
income, often
> from a spouse's "steady job." A potter friend once
said to me, when I
> commented that I noticed that there were many more women
truck drivers in
> Japan that back home, that many potter's wives started
driving truck after
> the economic Bubble burst. The other thing that is
different here, is
> that potters all seem to be Type A. The are busy all
the time. Their
> schedule isn't as "relaxed" as potter's lives seem to be
back home. Part
> of this is just the economic struggle. I don't socialize
much with other
> potters because we are so busy. The Mashiko pottery fair
is next month and
> I plan to go to do research about getting into it in the
spring. It will
> be the first time I get a chance to speak to many of them,
since the Spring
> pottery fair. Back home, being a potter is a
counter-culture lifestyle.
> Here in Japan, it is just another way to make a living.
>
> In Takuji Hamada's (Shoji Hamada's grandson)
lecture from NCECA
> 2002, he begins by showing slides of two vases: One, an
Onta vase and the
> other a garishly decorated Satsuma vase. He explains,
that while we might
> think the Mingei type Onta piece is what the "people's"
tastes were during
> the Meiji era, they actually, the Satsuma piece was.
>
> During the Meiji, when Japan was looking for ways
to earn foreign
> currency, they focused on making pottery for export.
This mass production
> was done at the large centers like Seto, Aichi Prefecture
and Tajimi, Gifu
> Prefecture. The little one person or one family kilns
were on the decline.
> When the large storage jars were no longer needed, many of
them turned to
> making knickknacks.
>
> Basically, what Mingei did was make people
look at the
> indigenous folk pottery. This could not be mass
produced by the
> factories, and gave the small individual potterys an
audience for their
> work. Mingei helped create the environment for
studio-artist potters,
> that did not exist before this time. It enabled many
people to make a
> modest living doing a lot of hard work.
>
> I hope this clears up the what it is actually like
being a potter
> here in Japan. I have to go now and trim some pots.
>
> --
> Lee In Mashiko, Japan
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