Some of Our Favorite American Bonsai Trees – Part II

This is Part II of the trees where I took a few photos back in 2007 and 2008 at the BIB show.  Boon has a fabulous bonsai club and he and his members have a number of very fine bonsai.  I would highly recommend you attend their show this January 19-20, 2013.  You can learn more about the show by visiting this page. And see their exhibit photos here.

We hope you enjoy the trees as much as we did seeing them in person and having the opportunity to photograph them.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Sam and KJ

Our Favorite American Bonsai Trees – Part II

One of the finest trees that I have had the opportunity to see in person. It was an honor to photograph this tree as it won a major American award. Everything about this tree to me is perfect – the styling, the ramification, the wiring, the bark, the trunk movement, the nebari – I think just everything!

Advertisement

Some of Our Favorite American Bonsai Trees

Tags

BIB Exhibit of Fine Bonsai

Last week we posted about some of our favorite Japanese bonsai trees, so this week we are going to post a few photos that I took back in 2007 and 2008 at the BIB show.  Boon has a fabulous bonsai club and he and his members have a number of very fine bonsai.  I would highly recommend you attend their show this January 19-20, 2013.  You can learn more about the show by visiting this page.

Some of Our Favorite Bonsai Trees

Since I seem to have come down with bronchitis and don’t feel very well, I thought I would look through old photos today and review some of our favorite bonsai trees that we have seen over the years. All of these trees in this post are from Japan.  There are a number of trees in America that we love as well but I don’t have enough energy to sort through those today!

Stay healthy!

Japanese Bonsai Trees

Shinano Chazan

Tags

Shinano Chazan

We were introduced to Shinano Chazan pots by Peter Tea about 18 months ago. Peter was making a trip back to the US from his apprenticeship in Nagoya, Japan and brought numerous small pots with him.  One of them KJ liked so much we acquired it for our collection. On his trip again this September, he brought another one and we thought it would be a good idea to have a pair of them.

Shinano Chazan

Shinano Chazan

This was the first pot we acquired.  It had seen some use in the garden but hasn’t quite developed the patina you hope for in an old pot.  This doesn’t reduce its value to us but we do love a good old patina.  Both sides of the pot  have scenes of people sitting down and talking.  You can see an enlarged version of the photo by clicking them.

The next pot was heavily used for many years.

Shinano Chazan

A similar scene to the first pot. One immediately notices the heavy patina on this pot. The finish of the pot doesn’t include a clear over glaze therefore the pot has the opportunity to build this fine old age patina while sitting outdoors.  How many years and waterings do you think it took to build this patina?

Shinano Chazan

At first when we turned the pot to this side, we thought the glaze was peeling off. However, upon further inspection we discovered that Chazan had etched a tree into the pot.  A nice touch indeed.  As we are observing this side of the pot we also noticed how the patina almost forms a mountain behind the tree. Note the distinctive slope on both sides with a bit of “sky” to the left and right of the mountain.

Perhaps we have been staring at the pot too long!

Peter also acquired a Chazan that would be great for a small suiban but unfortunately we don’t have a photograph of it. Perhaps Peter will post on this beautiful pot some day.

Pots by Syuku-hou

Tags

Syuku-hou, Toufukuji

Syuku-hou was a good friend of Toufukuji and they often shared kilns to fire their pots. Whereas many of Toufukuji’s pots used multiple glaze colors the two examples today of Syuku-hou’s pots are solid.

Syuku-hou (left) and Toufukuji (c) 2005 平安東福寺

Syuku-hou

Two of his pots in a dark and light blue glaze.  His pots are extremely thin and when we handled them we knew we needed to be extremely careful.  The pots are elegant and would make excellent accent pots or a pot for a small deciduous tree.

These pots are ~40 years old and have never been used.

Syuku-hou (8.5 x 3 cm)

Syuku-hou (8.5 x 3 cm)