Mashiko-ware - Henko - Vase - Clay - Ikebana Vase

Item Description
A beautifully composed Japanese stoneware henko (偏壺 — flattened/moon flask) flower vase in the Mashiko ware (Mashiko-yaki) tradition.
The henko — literally "flattened jar" — is one of the most elegant of Japanese ceramic vessel forms, its origins reaching back to Chinese Tang dynasty moon flasks (bianhu) brought to Japan via the ancient ceramic trade routes.
This example distils the form to its most essential: a generously rounded, slightly irregular body compressed front-to-back, rising on a low foot to a short cylindrical neck with a wide, neatly turned lip.
The satisfying weight and warm hand of this piece speak immediately to the quality of Mashiko's iron-rich stoneware clay.
Each face of the vessel is painted in a different register.
One side bears a bold, spontaneous brushwork depiction of a bird — rendered in dark iron pigment with a loose, gestural confidence reminiscent of ink painting (sumi-e) — with accents of copper-purple pigment that bloom into a mottled, mineral softness.
The reverse shows a composition of botanical motifs — simplified plant or grass forms — rendered in cool blue-grey slip or glaze, their restrained linearity contrasting beautifully with the more expressive bird imagery.
The ground throughout is a warm off-white with areas of sandy grey ash glaze drifting across the shoulder and body, speckled with iron-spot flecks in a texture reminiscent of Shino ware.
The overall palette — grey-white, iron brown, copper-purple, quiet blue — is deliberately understated, with a mature, meditative quality that rewards slow looking.
The mouth rim carries a ring of deep black-brown glaze, providing a precise visual anchor at the top of the composition.
An impressed seal (tōin) is present on the base, but is not legible.
No box included.
In very good condition.

Size
Height: 19 cm
Width: 15.7 cm
Depth: 12.4 cm
Mouth diameter (outer): 4.6 cm

Weight
1,028 g

Condition
Very good condition.
No chips, cracks, or repairs.
Light age-toning and natural kiln character throughout.
The glaze surface is intact and undamaged.

Artist Profile
This vessel is an unsigned work in the Mashiko ware tradition, with an impressed but illegible seal on the base.
Mashiko (Mashiko-yaki), produced in Tochigi Prefecture north of Tokyo, is one of Japan's most celebrated folk pottery traditions.
Its international reputation was established through Living National Treasure Hamada Shoji, who settled in Mashiko in 1930 and elevated its humble regional craft into a globally recognised art form.
The aesthetic qualities of this vase — the henko form, the free brushwork decoration, the warm ash-spotted glaze, the marriage of restraint and spontaneity — are all hallmarks of the Mashiko tradition at its most refined.

NOITICE:

The photos may show flowers, plants, pedestals, etc. as examples of decorations and interior design for illustrative purposes, but please note that these are not included in the product.

The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by DHL , FedEx or Japan Post depend on the situation.
It takes about 2-3 weeks to receive normally.
Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost.
These charges are the buyer's responsibility.

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