Omikoshi-e Chawan 御輿絵茶碗 — Imai Masayuki, Order of Culture Laureate A bird has just landed on the roof of a portable shrine. Its wings are still half-open, caught in the moment between flight and stillness. Below it, the omikoshi — the gilded palanquin carried through festival streets to bring a deity close to the people — fills the bowl's exterior in confident, unhesitating iron brushwork. The scene is festive, but the hand that painted it was one of the most decorated in the history of Japanese ceramics. Product Details Imai Masayuki received the Order of Culture in 2018 — awarded personally by the Emperor of Japan, held by fewer than five ceramic artists in the nation's modern history. This tea bowl dates from the early 1970s, when Imai was working at his Yamashina studio in Kyoto and his international reputation was beginning to take shape. The technique is tetsu-e — iron painting. Iron oxide pigment is brushed directly onto unfired clay beneath a white glaze, fusing permanently into the ceramic body during firing. The method allows no correction: the absorbent clay accepts the brush in one direction only, and what is laid down stays. The omikoshi image — shrine structure, hanging tassels, cresting bird — was drawn in this way, in strokes that read as spontaneous but carry the precision of a ceramist who had spent two decades mastering line and surface. The form is wan-nari: a gently rounded, open silhouette that sits naturally in two hands. The glaze is a warm, softly textured white. Turned in the light, the surface shifts between cream and pale ivory; the iron lines deepen from amber to near-black depending on angle. The unglazed band at the base reveals the buff clay beneath, and the kodai is hand-cut with quiet precision. This piece comes complete with its original signed wooden box (tomobako) inscribed Omikoshi-e Chawan, a gold brocade tomogire with large floral pattern, and a printed biographical shiori documenting the artist's career through the early 1970s. Artist Profile 今井政之 — Imai Masayuki (1930–2023) was the recipient of the Order of Culture (Bunka-sho, 2018) — Japan's highest honour in the arts, awarded personally by the Emperor — and a member of the Japan Art Academy (Nihon Geijutsu-in). In a ceramic tradition spanning centuries, fewer than five artists have received this decoration. Born in Osaka on 25 December 1930, Imai entered the world of ceramics after the war, studying glaze and form before moving to Kyoto in 1952. There he entered the studio of Kusube Yaichi — himself a recipient of the Order of Culture — and became a founding member of the Seitō-kai research circle. His debut at the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) came in 1954; by 1959 and again in 1963 he had received the Hokuto-sho, the exhibition's highest prize. By 1965 he was serving as a Nitten juror. In 1966 he represented Japan at the International Ceramics Symposium in Israel. In 1972, the Grand Master of the Urasenke school of tea bestowed upon him the kiln name Hōzan-gama. In 1974, he received the Grand Prize of Honour at the Doloris International Ceramics Biennale. Imai is best known for men-zōgan (surface inlay) — a technique in which clay bodies of differing shrinkage rates are embedded into one another before firing, creating integrated pictorial fields of extraordinary depth. This process, developed over more than a decade, had no precedent in the Japanese ceramic tradition. The present bowl, an iron-painted work from his early 1970s Yamashina studio, shows the same draftsmanship and surface sensitivity that underpins all his work: line and glaze working as one. Imai Masayuki passed away on 6 March 2023, at the age of 92. His kiln continues under the stewardship of his son and grandson. About Kiyomizu Ware and Key Terms What is Kiyomizu ware? Kiyomizu ware (Kiyomizu-yaki) is the collective name for ceramics produced in the hills and workshops of Kyoto, centred historically around the Kiyomizuzaka slope below Kiyomizu Temple. Unlike regional kilns defined by a single clay or glaze tradition, Kiyomizu ware is characterised by extraordinary technical diversity, absorbing influences from China, Korea, and across Japan over four centuries. The tradition has been inseparable from the culture of the Japanese tea ceremony throughout its history. The Order of Culture (Bunka-sho) is Japan's highest state honour in the arts and sciences, awarded personally by the Emperor. It stands above all ministerial prizes and is granted to artists whose work has fundamentally shaped Japanese culture — comparable in prestige to a knighthood in European tradition. Fewer than five ceramic artists in Japan's modern history have received this decoration. Often spoken of alongside the designation of Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuhō), the Order of Culture operates at the same level of national recognition, awarded not for mastery of a single technique but for an entire body of work that has elevated Japanese art on the world stage. Tetsu-e (iron painting) refers to the technique of painting directly onto unfired clay using iron oxide pigment, which fires to warm brown or black tones beneath a transparent or white glaze. The method demands confident, unhesitating brushwork — corrections cannot be made once the pigment meets the absorbent surface. Kodai is the foot ring of a ceramic vessel, formed by cutting away clay from the base. In Japanese ceramic aesthetics, the kodai is considered a signature of the maker's hand — its proportions, cutting angle, and texture are read by experienced tea practitioners as an expression of the potter's sensibility. Tomobako refers to a wooden storage box made and signed by the artist themselves. Its presence confirms direct attribution and adds significantly to the piece's documentary record. Tomogire is a length of cloth — historically silk — chosen or provided by the artist as a wrapping material. Unlike a shifuku (a sewn pouch), tomogire is an open length of fabric, and its inclusion as part of a ceramic's transmission reflects the Japanese understanding that a work of art travels with its full context intact. Shipping Information This item is shipped via Japan Post EMS as our standard shipping method. Depending on the destination and logistics situation, we may use DHL or FedEx for the fastest and safest delivery. All items include a tracking number and insurance. 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