24439 HARADA Shuroku (Bizen tea)

Height 10.0cm

Diameter 13.4cm

A potter born and raised in Ibe, Okayama Prefecture, a town famous for Bizen ware. After graduating from the Department of Agricultural Manufacturing, Faculty of Agriculture, Meiji University, while looking at pottery in galleries, he rediscovered the charm of his hometown's Bizen ware and decided to become a potter. He built a small hole kiln, and a climbing kiln the following year, and devoted himself to pottery in earnest. He studied under Katsura Matasaburo, a great contributor to Bizen, and together they studied ancient Bizen, learning the firing methods of ancient Bizen and how to make pottery that makes use of the natural earthenware of the clay. This is a work by Harada Juroku, a genius who made his teacher say, "He's a force to be reckoned with."