{"product_id":"shimizu-uichi-horaiji-impressed-thistle-jar-living-national-treasure-signed-box","title":"Shimizu Uichi Horaiji Impressed Thistle Jar, Living National Treasure, Signed Box","description":"\u003cp\u003eA porcelain jar in horaiji glaze by Shimizu Uichi, decorated with a thistle motif rendered in relief through inka (impressed stamping). The clear, faintly bluish glaze covers a full, taut jar form: the body swells richly, retaining slight throwing marks, before drawing in at the rounded shoulder to a small open mouth, expressing Shimizu's characteristic concise and restrained sculptural beauty. The thistle flowers on the shoulder are not asserted through overglaze color but quietly dissolved within the same pale blue glaze, so that the raised flowers and leaves appear and recede as soft shadow depending on the angle of light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHoraiji was an important body of work that Shimizu developed from his research into ceramic raw materials gathered near Mt. Horai after his 1970 relocation. A work of the same name, a horaiji impressed thistle jar, dated 1980, is held in the collection of the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, and another horaiji thistle jar of 1980 is held in the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art, confirming that thistle inka on horaiji was one of Shimizu's representative works.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShimizu Uichi (1926–2004) was a Japanese ceramic artist born in the Gojo-zaka district of Higashiyama, Kyoto, into a family involved in the ceramics wholesale trade. As a young man he studied under the potter Ishiguro Munemaro, and later trained in glaze chemistry and design at Kyoto's national ceramic testing institute under Hineno Sakuzo and Mizumachi Wasaburo. In 1970 he relocated to the foot of Mt. Horai in Shiga Prefecture, where he built the Horai kiln and developed distinctive glaze styles using local raw materials, including seiji (celadon), tetsuyo, horaiyo, and horaiji. In 1985 he was designated a Living National Treasure (Holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property) for tetsuyu (iron-glazed) ceramics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Diameter 20.3 cm, Height 20.0 cm\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Undamaged and complete.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncludes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Original signed wood box (tomobako).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease refer to the photos for the item's current appearance and condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kura Finds","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43228999319650,"sku":null,"price":768.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1293\/2194\/files\/i-img497x400-17871181518138aompba164616.jpg?v=1787305751","url":"https:\/\/kurafinds.com\/products\/shimizu-uichi-horaiji-impressed-thistle-jar-living-national-treasure-signed-box","provider":"Kura Finds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}