Edge Artworks Launches…

KJ and I have discussed for a while if we should sell a part of our collection of stones, stand and the like. After much discussion, a site was built to do just that.

http://www.edgeartworks.com

The commerce website contains some fine suiseki from Japan and viewing stones from the United States and China. A number of bonsai pots, dobans and suibans are available; primarily sourced from Japan but also elsewhere.

Stands, which seem to be hard to find these days, are also available in different shapes and sizes; most are from Japan and were imported many years ago.

Check out the bronze given to us from Mr. Saburo Kato’s family shortly after his death. This would be a wonderful display piece with either a stone or tree.

Bronze Temple from the Saburo Sato Collection

There are also a number of books; primarily bonsai books with a few suiseki catalogs. Lastly, there are about 60 deep sky photos that can be printed from ~12 inches to as large as 60 inches. If you have interest in the photos, just email us and we can discuss sizes and finishes. Our home as M42, the Great Orion Nebula, hanging above our fireplace. It was printed 52-inches square on canvas.

M42 – The Great Nebula in the Constellation of Orion

We attempt to ship within 24 hours of an order. International orders can not be competed directly from the website. Just email us with the SKU number and we can make arrangements to ship things to you.

Feel free to browse and we thank you for doing so!

Lastly, if you would like for us to help you sell something similar to what we have listed, just reach out to us and we can discuss…

Best,
Sam and KJ

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Bonsai Pot Collection Sales Catalog

Click the link below for the catalog.

edge-catalog-2016-v1

For the last 20 years, KJ and I have been collecting excellent bonsai pots from Japan and China.  However, the last 7 years we have been concentrating on building our viewing stone collection.  We therefore we have made the decision to sell the majority of our Japanese and Chinese collector bonsai pots.

Our collection contains Yusen, Tofukuji, Isseki, and Kouzan pots from Japan, several very old Chinese antique pots and others.  Most are show/collector quality pots, with a few exceptions.

If you have interest in any of these pots and would like more information or photos, please contact us at the email address listed on the catalog and we will get back with you as quickly as we can.

Thank you for your consideration.

Our best,

Sam and KJ

edge-catalog-2016-v1

Shiokai Kenji Pots – Kaohsiung Koha or Takao-koyo

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Takao-koyo

Shiokai Kenji who lives in Kyoto, Japan began making pots in 1972.  There is a good bio of him on Ryan’s site that can be found here. We purchased one of Takao-koyo’s pots a good while back from Koju-en located in Kyoto.

Takao-koyo glazed pot.

We placed a very nice exposed root maple over rock in this pot.  I always smile when I tell this story because almost everyone who saw the pot and then the tree said it will never work together.  Everyone’s attitude changed once the trident/rock was in the pot as it was a stunning combination.  It is clear that Shiokai Kenji has been influenced by Tofukuji by just looking at the glaze treatment.  This is the only one I have seen on Koju-en’s web site.  Ryan has several of them and I believe he would agree they are quite lovely.

Historical Pots

Heian Tofukuji (平安東福寺)

If you follow Tofukuji pots at all then this pot is instantly recognizable. Beautiful glaze combination and a very nice form.  This pot was for sale at Kokufu-Ten this year.  We bid $5,000 US for it – it sold for over $12,000.  It is one of our very favorite Tofukuji pots.  You can easily see how Shiokai Kenji styles his pots after the glazes of Tofukuji.

Another favorite of ours is Yusen.  We believe his paintings are the best of any potter/artist that has painted scenes on pots in Japan.  We are fortunate to own two of them, thank you Peter, and we enjoy them due to Yusen’s ability to paint highly detailed scenes in very small spaces.

Tsukinowa Yusen (月之輪湧泉)

This pot in our collection is just barely 5cm in size, but look at the detail in his painting.

Collecting Before the Potter Becomes Famous – or Dead

So at this point you are likely wanting to know – if you are still reading – why talk about Tofukuji and/or Yusen in a post about Shiokai Kenji?  So here is the reason why.

I can’t tell you the number of times I have said something like this: “I sure wish I had been in Japan when Tofukuji was alive and selling his pots. I bet I could have gotten a hand full of them at a great price!”  There are a number of potters we could say this about: Yusen, Kouzan, etc.  So back to Shiokai Kenji – one day I was reading Ryan’s blog post about Shiokai Kenji and his comparing his painted pots to Yusen it struck me – “wait a minute this potter is awesome, his pots are reasonably priced, and his paintings are excellent.”

I think you know what comes next.  Duh – “KJ we should buy some of his pots for our collection.”  Yes, we were awed at our own stupidity – wishing for something that will never occur while an opportunity literally sitting in our lap – or perhaps on our American Express card.

We have only been able to find Shiokai Kenji’s pots at Koju-en owned by Tomohiro Masumi.  So we went to his site to see what he had and then we reached out to Tomohiro to see what he had in stock.  He has just left for Kokufu-Ten (February, 2014) but promised on his return he would check to see what he had in inventory – we had ask for a specific pot on his site.

In the end we decided to purchase 11 of his pots. Nine we have received and the other two are being made by Shiokai Kenji.  Tomohiro was kind enough to ask Shiokai Kenji to paint a pheasant by his signature on one of them and on the other to hand sign Higa and Yogi in Kanji as these are KJ’s dad and mom family names.

So let’s take a brief look at Shiokai Kenji pots.  We will post more details as we take photos of all sides of these pots.

Shiokai Kenji – pots signed as takao-koyo

Photos courtesy of Tomohiro Masumi (c) 2014.

Tsukinowa Yusen (月之輪湧泉)

We learned from Tomohiro that pheasants are Shiokai Kenji’s favorite animal.  They are often seen on his pots.

This is Shiokai Kenji artist mark.  On some of his pots only the square mark is shown. We know that some of the pots that he paints are purchased from a third-party while some he makes himself. Our guess is that those that he has made and painted have both marks.

Miyazaki Isseki

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Miyazaki Isseki

Miyazaki Isseki was born in Osaka, Japan in 1920 and passed away in 1984.  Many of his pots heavily use white space in his paintings.  To us a number of his pots have a loneliness to them others, like the one we present today, are full of life.

Most of his pots are red or blue with a few using multiple colors.  This pot which we acquired less than a year ago is vibrant with color.  We have not researched the scenes on this pot yet but intend to do so over the next few months.

Miyazaki Isseki

This pot contains one continuous scene painted on the four sides of the pot. We love how he even used the feet as a part of the canvas.

Miyazaki Isseki

A more typical Isseki painting with lot of white (negative) space.  It will be interesting to see the reaction to this pot from a number of our readers.  We believe it will fall into one of three camps: 1) Love it; 2) Hate it; or 3) Admire the paintings but wouldn’t see a use for it as a bonsai pot.

It has been used as you can see there are traces of dirt in the interior and underside of the pot. We have absolutely no idea what this pot might have held but understand that the pot for the last 20 years has been on a shelf in a collector’s home in Japan.

As this is perhaps KJ’s favorite pot, we are quite happy it now sits on a beautiful stand in our home.

Miyazaki Isseki

Miyazaki Isseki

 

Miyazaki Isseki

Miyazaki Isseki

We are not sure what the writing on each scene might be but we hope it is a clue of sorts to the paintings.

Close-ups of the Isseki Pot

Miyazaki Isseki

Miyazaki Isseki

Miyazaki Isseki

Miyazaki Isseki Artist Mark

Miyazaki Isseki

 

 

 

Bunzan Pots – A Few More

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Bunzan, Kaoru Ito

We were changing out a few items for display in the house – we decided at the first of the year we would only show bonsai pots for January – and we pulled out a couple of Bunzan pots to display.

Bunzan – An accent plant pot shaped roughly like a trident maple leaf.

Bunzan Artist mark

So what do you think about his pots?  He certainly uses a great deal of color. When we first saw them in 2007 many thought who would ever use them but since then we have seem them at shows in Japan.

Bunzan is the artist name for Kaoru Ito who was born on May 10, 1949.  He uses clay from Echizen and Shigaraki and blends them together to formulate his own blend of clay. He apparently doesn’t use molds and forms the pots with his hands. In recent years, most of the pots carrying his artist mark are from his students.  If there are two marks then it was likely made by his hands.

Bunzan – note the two chop marks indicating this pot was made by Bunzan himself.

With many of his pots they have to be viewed this way in order to admire his use of glazes.  He seems to be influenced by Toufukuji but my only evidence of this is through our own observations.

Bunzan

Bunzan

Bunzan

Bunzan

Bunzan

The following photographs are from within our green house where we used a number of his pots for accent plants. We truly enjoy his use of color.  Many of his pots are round with the scalloped edge, so we attempted to purchase as many of them as we could that were not in that shape.

Bunzan

Bunzan

Bunzan

Ichiyo Bonsai Pots

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Ichiyo

We like small pots.  Anyone who reads our blog will not be surprised by that of course. But how small is small.  How about under 5cm.  Is that small? Well yes it is and of course being that small makes them more of a collectors item than owning it for practical application.

Today we are going to look at three Ichiyo pots. We acquired them from two different people.  Without being told they are small, I doubt most of us would guess they are under 5cm each.

Each of these delicate pots resemble pots much larger in size.  From the white & green glaze, to the darker blue there is an excellent patina on these pots indicating that they have served time in the garden being used for their intended purpose – holding a plant or very small tree. So let’s take a closer look at these three.

Ichiyo

A very nice patina on this extremely thin walled pot.  One can tell this pot has been used for many years. Perhaps a small accent plant was growing within the borders of these walls.  We would have loved to have seen it in use.  For now, it sits in our collection with its two other siblings.

Ichiyo

This one is perhaps our favorite.  A beautiful glaze with a hint of green. To obtain a better view just click the image.  Note how the white pot above is using a much lighter clay while this two-toned glazed pot used the more reddish clay indicating a higher iron content.

Ichiyo

Lastly, this blue glazed pot shows years of usage. Notice the patina on the lip of the pot and along its bottom. The sure sign of having been in the garden for many years.

It takes talent to be able to create pots this small and delicate but yet able to withstand the rigors of summer heat and winter cold.  Only if we weathered things that well. It has been some time since we posted last principally because I (Sam) have been under the weather with a bad case of bronchitis.  But we are feeling better and so I hope a few more posts in the upcoming days including an announcement about a new Bay Area Suiseki Club.

Our best wishes for you and yours this year.

Sam and KJ

Shinano Chazan

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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

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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)

Post 150 – Tsukinowa Yusen

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Tsukinowa Yusen (月之輪湧泉)

Well our blog reaches another milestone today – our 150th blog post.  Little did we know when we started in August of 2009, that some three years later there would be more fun stuff to write about. KJ and I would like to thank each of you for visting our blog and being a part of the love we have for suiseki and great bonsai containers.

With today’s post it seems only fitting to write about one of our favorite painted pots by Yusen.

Tsukinowa Yusen (9.7 x 7 x 3.5cm)

Our friend Frank was able to acquire this pot recently and add it to his increasing collection of highly desirable Yusen pots.  This pot has been documented in the book Charisma Yusen & Kouzan published in 2006 and shown on page 26.

A great number of Yusen’s pots are decorated with highly detailed paintings of famous scenes depicted in early Chinese poems. Two of these have been documented on our blog and are highly fascinating stories in themselves.  What we enjoy about this particular pot is its simplicity and the warmth we feel in the scenes painted on the pot.

Tsukinowa Yusen (9.7 x 7 x 3.5cm)

We are uncertain of the type of bird being depicted but perhaps it is the Plover which is known to inhabit Japan; thanks to Chris for pointing out the bird type.

Plover

The paintings on this pot capture the birds at rest and in flight.

Tsukinowa Yusen (9.7 x 7 x 3.5cm)

We appreciate the outlining that Yusen paints on his pots.  It takes a steady hand to draw these lines so cleanly but yet personal – it is clear it is not assisted by ruler or as it would be today by computer.

Tsukinowa Yusen (9.7 x 7 x 3.5cm)

We don’t have photos of this pot set at an angle but two of the scenes are a part of a continuous painting with the scene from the 1st photo extending to the right side of the pot.  A nice touch in our opinion.

Yusen Pot at Auction – (c) 2012 Mark Cooper

Mark Cooper who happened to be at the auction contacted us with the generous offer to provide a photo of the pot at the auction.  Mark thanks for sharing and we will be sure that Frank gets a copy of the full resolution image.

All of us are fortunate that this historical pot is now in the United States after being in Japan for so many years. I have been discussing with several friends the need for us to put on an exhibit of fine Chinese and Japanese bonsai containers in America.  I wonder how many of you might enjoy that and would be willing to attend.

I believe this would also be an excellent educational opportunity for many of these fine pots to be shown with a discussion on how to recognize the qualities of these pots along with their history.  If you are interested, perhaps drop us an email or just comment below.

Our very best wishes to each of you.

Sam and KJ

Taikan-Ten 2012 Part 3

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Kyoto, Taikan-Ten 2012

This is the final post on the Taikan-Ten show in Kyoto, Japan. Today’s photos were shot in the vendor area of the show.  Enjoy!

A Few Books About To Go On Sale