22444 Suzuki Osamu (Pair of silver-painted sake cups (1974))

Large: Height 4.2cm, Diameter 6.2cm

Small: Height 3.4cm, diameter 5.1cm

He led the postwar pottery world and is known as a central figure in the avant-garde pottery group "Sodeisha," which he formed in 1948 with Yagi Kazuo and Yamada Hikaru.

Masaomi Umikami is a member of the International Federation of Art Critics and the founder of Unac Tokyo. Born in Tokyo in 1931. He is a critical critic of contemporary artists, and is also actively involved in introducing and promoting their work through exhibitions and publication of collections. In 1949, at the age of 18, he bought a print by Shiko Munakata (then 47 years old), and for seven years until he won the Venice Biennale International Grand Prize, he organized Munakata's artwork, compiled four books, and created the opportunity to illustrate Tanizaki Junichiro's "The Key." In 1966, he opened the Ichibankan Gallery (until 1971). In 1971, he compiled a collection of works by Yagi Kazuo, a genius in the ceramic art world, and established the critical theme of tradition and innovation. Of particular note is his series of works related to Inoue Yuichi, which produced great results in raising and establishing Yuichi's reputation both domestically and internationally through the editing and publication of the catalogue raisonné "The Complete Works of Inoue Yuichi." In 2002, he received the Japan Contemporary Art Promotion Award for setting an example as a proactive art critic. Between the ages of 17 and 25, he was active under the name of Kanbayashi Ryokichi, and published books under his name such as "Utakata Woodblock Prints" and "Seitensho Woodblock Prints," as well as Munakata Shiko's "The Way of Woodblock Prints."

This cup comes with a bookmark which explains that it is an important cup that was given to Umikami Masaomi by Suzuki Osamu when he was 43 years old.