23257 FUNAKI Kenji (light yellow glaze bird painting large bowl)

Height 7.2cm Diameter 50.9cm

Funaki Kenji : A ceramic artist born in Shimane Prefecture. Raised as the eldest son of Funaki Michitada, owner of Fujina ware pottery, he dropped out of school to help with the family business and began making pottery. He went to England to train at the studio of Bernard Leach, and has been active in public exhibitions both in Japan and abroad. Using traditional Fujina ware techniques and the slipware techniques he learned in Europe, he creates highly original works with figurative designs. He has also revived the black glaze of old Fujina ware from the Edo period to suit modern sensibilities.

A work made using the slipware technique.
Slipware is a type of ancient pottery found in Europe and other parts of the world. It is characterized by the method of decorating the surface of the vessel with a slip (a mixture of water and clay in the right concentration)-like coating called slip (engobe). Even in recent years, ceramic artists have been making pieces of this style.

Slipware fell into disuse with the spread of advanced ceramic techniques and mass production during the Industrial Revolution. However, in the 20th century, it was rediscovered and many potters and manufacturers use the technique. Among them, Bernard Leach and Kenkichi Tomimoto first learned of slipware in a book called "Ancient English Pottery" by Charles Lomax, which they purchased at Maruzen in Tokyo in 1913. Leach and Shoji Hamada traveled to England in 1920 and found pieces of slipware near their kiln in St. Ives, and collected the remaining slipware, which Hamada brought back to Japan in 1924. Muneyoshi Yanagi and Kanjiro Kawai also saw it, and it had a strong influence on their pottery and the Mingei movement. Later, Michitada Funaki of Fujina started to make his own slipware, and his son Kenji Funaki and Seijiro Takeuchi of Kurashiki continued to work on their own slipware. Later, the British slipware technique was revealed by Masaaki Shibata of Tamba, and the technique was published in the magazine Geijutsu Shincho (2004).