Shigaraki Jar (Shigaraki Tsubo 信楽壺)
KOBAYASHI Yūchō
Born in Manchuria (Manchukuo), 1944, active Japan
Shigaraki Jar (Shigaraki Tsubo 信楽壺)
Before 2014
Shigaraki vessel; stoneware with natural ash glaze
Gift of Robert and Lisa Kessler, 2024.762
KOBAYASHI Yūchō was born in Manchukuo in Northeast China (Manchuria under Japanese occupation) in 1944, and soon moved to Kobe. He began working in Shigaraki tradition in the late 1960s. This large Shigaraki vessel was fired in the artist’s anagama kiln, which he built and named Wordless Kiln (Fugen-gama 不言窯). The rustic, coarse surface of the clay body, with its characteristic feldspar grog, is complemented with the pellucid green of the natural ash glaze. It cascades from the thick lip down over its swelling bulbous form. This large jar, a take on storage jars of the 14th and 15th centuries, engages in direct dialogue with Shigaraki-yaki tradition, one of the Six Old Kilns of Japan.
Some images in our online collection are at thumbnail size, in accordance with AAMD guidelines, because they are protected by copyright. The Denver Art Museum respects the rights of artists or their representatives who retain the copyright to their work. Other images represent the best photography available and should be used as reference images only. Please complete the Image Rights Request form if you want to request a high resolution image.
This information is published from the Denver Art Museum’s collection database. Updates and additions based on research and imaging activities are ongoing. The images, titles, and inscriptions are products of their time and are presented here as documentation, not as a reflection of the museum’s values. If you have corrections or additional information about this object please email us at info@denverartmuseum.org to help us improve our records.
Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of works and their images. Please email us imagerights@denverartmuseum.org if you have further information on the rights status of a work contrary or in addition to the information in our records.
