Tsubashima Dohei - Jar - Stoneware - Fluted Green Glaze

Item Description
This striking stoneware ewer (suichū, water pourer) is the work of 坪島土平 Tsuboshima Dohei (1929–2013), sole direct disciple of the celebrated tea-ceremony potter 川喜田半泥子 Kawakita Handeishi (1878–1963). Upon Handeishi's death in 1963, Tsuboshima inherited the Hirōnaga-gama (廣永窯) kiln in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, and went on to build a distinguished career centred on chanoyu and kaiseki wares, exhibiting regularly at major Takashimaya department store galleries in Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Nagoya from the late 1960s onward.

The piece takes the form of a rounded, bell-shaped vessel with a fluted, gadrooned body reminiscent of Korean and Karatsu-influenced water jars, rising to a narrow neck with a short spout and an arched loop handle. The surface is covered in a mottled ash-green glaze that pools and darkens along the deep vertical ribs, revealing warm ochre-toned clay at the exposed foot rim. The overall form and glazing evoke the restrained, earthy aesthetic prized in Japanese tea ceremony ceramics.

The ewer comes with its original wooden storage box (tomobako), a standard mark of authenticity and provenance for works by named Japanese studio potters, indicating the piece left the artist's own hands or workshop.

Size
Height: 23 cm
Width: 18.5 cm
Depth: 19 cm

Weight
2001 g

Condition
The ewer shows light surface wear and scattered small chips consistent with age and studio production, with no major structural damage observed. Please refer to the photographs for a full visual assessment of the glaze surface and edges.

Artist Profile
Tsuboshima Dohei (坪島圡平, 1929–2013) was born in Osaka and, at the age of seventeen in 1946, became the apprentice of Kawakita Handeishi, the noted banker, potter, scholar, painter, and art collector. Tsuboshima worked closely alongside Handeishi for seventeen years, eventually succeeding him as head of the Hirōnaga kiln in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, upon Handeishi's death in 1963.

While Handeishi's output centred largely on tea ceramics, Tsuboshima broadened the kiln's scope, producing tea bowls alongside tableware, vases, and larger sculptural works. His output spans Shino, Oribe, Korean-influenced Karatsu, and Iga traditions, with particular attention to aka-e (overglaze red enamel), sometsuke (underglaze blue), and polychrome painted decoration. His painted work, gestural and rhythmic, reinterprets traditional Rinpa-style motifs of flora, fauna, and landscape with a free and expansive energy.

Tsuboshima began holding major solo exhibitions in 1967 in Osaka and Tokyo, followed by Yokohama the following year. He went on to hold regular solo shows at Osaka Takashimaya (annually from 1967), Tokyo Nihonbashi Takashimaya (biennially), Yokohama Takashimaya (biennially), and Nagoya Takashimaya (annually from 2000). A museum dedicated to his work now stands beside Handeishi's former residence in Japan, and his pieces are held in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, with representation through specialist Japanese ceramics dealers internationally.

Additional Information
Maker: Tsuboshima Dohei, Hirōnaga-gama kiln, Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Material: Glazed stoneware
Provenance: Accompanied by the artist's original signed wooden box (tomobako)

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