22430 Kitaoji Rosanjin (Shino Ash-e square bowl)

Height 4.9cm, each side 23.0cm

Hailed as an artist who would never be promoted, he displayed his extraordinary talents not only in ceramics but also in seal carving, lacquerware, calligraphy and other fields. This is a work by Kitaoji Rosanjin, a great master of the arts who left many masterpieces and legends to the world. The Shino ware that the artist continued to create from his early days of pottery to his final years gradually changed from the milky white color with a slight scarlet to a more reddish color, and finally to a work with a beautiful contrast between red and white, which can be described as a dramatic transformation. When he first started working on Shino ware, he used the white moxa clay commonly used for Shino ware, but because the clay's properties were not suitable for practical vessels for serving food, he began to use the fine, high-quality red clay from Shigaraki. Because of this, the Shino ware that Rosanjin made gradually took on a reddish tinge, and Rosanjin did not miss this coincidence. In his search for a more intense red ware that resembled dancing flames, he conducted extensive research and used new techniques to succeed in creating a "Shino" that had never been seen before.

This piece is one of the most popular Shino pieces by the artist, and features the artist's characteristic vivid red coloring. It is a piece that beautifully harmonizes the shape of a ceramicist well versed in the classics with the scarlet color of an artist who has also mastered calligraphy and painting. It is not a simple imitation of Momoyama Shino, but a piece that exudes a beautiful presence, developed with the gaze of a gourmet. This piece is also one of the few to come with a box.