Potter: Ohi Toshiro, 10th successor of the Ohi style

Approximate size: W3.4″ by H8.7″ or 8.6 by 22.2cm

This is an exquisite yuteki or oil-spot ame-yu hanaire or spotted amber glazed flower vase made by Ohi Toshiro (1927-), the tenth generation and current successor of the prestigious Chozaemon family, which has been associated with the world of the Japanese tea ceremony since the 17th century. By using special picks and tools, the Ohi master chips away moist clay until bowls or cups has taken form. The glazes are magnificent earth tones and black glazing is often applied as with Raku but the trademark – an amber glaze called ame-yu is the epitome of the style. This vase features a variation between what could be termed an tenmoku or oil-spot ame-yu and the classic pure amber glaze.

The Chozaemon lineage started with Hodoan (1631-1712), apprentice to the fourth heir of the Raku family of potters. In 1666, he accompanied Senso Shoshitsu (1622-1697), the fourth heir of the Urasenke school of Japanese tea ceremony, to the city of Kanazawa, the capital of the Maeda clan’s province, Kaga (current Ishikawa prefecture). In the village of Ohi, the first Chozaemon established a kiln which still produces superior tea ceremony wares and since the Meiji Restoration, ceramics for everyday living, too.  

Toshiro was born in 1927 as the first son of Ohi Chozaemon IX. He graduated the Tokyo University of Arts in 1949 and then returned for a short time to the family kiln. He has since been professor at a number of prestigious Japanese institutions. He has been a consistent exhibitor with the Nitten National Exhibition, and served as both judge and director there, as well as acting as judge for the Asahi Ceramics Exhibition.

He was awarded the Japan Ceramics Society award in 1957. He was also granted the Art Academy Award of Japan, perhaps one of the most prestigious of all honers in this country in 1985. He has been actively exhibiting abroad since 1949, including North America, The former Soviet Union, most of Europe as well as in the Middle East. In 1983 a tea bowl made by Toshiro was given as a gift to the Emperor and it, as well as several subsequent pieces are in the permanent collection of the Imperial Household Agency. He accepted the name of Ohi Chozaemon X in 1987.