– Created by Kato Shigetaka (1927–2013) of Seto, Aichi, son and disciple of master potter Kato Tokuro, and Nitten and Japan Ceramic Society prize-winner. – Hand-built four-sided stoneware pillar (height 18 cm) in rich tetsuyu (iron glaze) shifting across its four faces from glossy jet-black cascades to warm terracotta-rust, olive-brown, and pale ash-toned rim highlights. – Complete with signed wooden box (tomobako), stamped yellow cloth (tomonuno), printed career leaflet (shiori), and impressed base mark "重". Summary: A commanding four-sided iron-glaze flower vase (tetsuyu kaki) by Kato Shigetaka (1927–2013), a central figure of postwar Seto ceramic art. Rising 18 cm like a cleft pillar of earth, it presents four distinct landscapes of fire and glaze: glossy black streams cascade from the square mouth over a rust-red body, pooling along hand-pressed ridges down to the bevelled foot. Each wall responds differently to the kiln flame—one dramatic with dark cascades, another glowing with terracotta warmth, another marked by vertical seams where thick glaze gathers. Complete with signed tomobako, cloth, and leaflet, it offers collectors a sculptural work from a celebrated three-generation ceramic lineage. Form and the Four Faces of Iron and Fire Compact at 6 × 6 cm across and 18 cm high, the vase carries the architectural presence of a standing stone. Built as a four-sided column with gently undulating walls and vertical ridges that guide the glaze during firing: - On the principal faces, mirror-bright black iron glaze pours from the shoulder in irregular tongues and vertical streams, breaking into olive-amber and espresso where it thins over the iron-red stoneware. - On the opposing sides, the warm terracotta and russet-orange clay body comes forward, speckled with mineral pinholes and crossed by dark glaze trails tracing the vertical ribs of the slab construction. - At the top, the square mouth has softly undulating walls and an inward-bevelled lip where the glaze thins to a pale ash-buff edge before plunging into a lustrous black interior. - Along the lower corners and foot, thick droplets of black and olive glaze arrest mid-flow just above the unglazed reddish-brown clay edge, recording the moment the kiln cooled. The Base and Potter's Mark The unglazed brick-terracotta square base shows natural grit and wiping traces, stamped cleanly at the centre with Kato Shigetaka's hexagonal mark 重 (Shige). Seto, Aichi, and the Lineage of Kato Shigetaka Seto in Aichi Prefecture—highlighted on the regional map—stands among the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan, where iron-rich clays from red-earth hills, wood-fired climbing kilns (noborigama), and kiln-walled lanes shaped Japan's ceramic heritage. Born in Kamagami-cho, Seto City in 1927, Kato Shigetaka graduated from Seto Ceramic High School in 1945 and trained under his father, the legendary master Kato Tokuro (1898–1985). Working from his studio at Obata Suishoen in Moriyama-ku, Nagoya, Shigetaka won major honours across Japan: the Shin-Nitten (from 1958), Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition (from 1963), Seto Encouragement Award and Mie Governor's Award (1965), the Nitten Hokuto Prize (1966), the Japan Ceramic Society Award (1967), and the Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition Craft Award (1970). From 1971 he focused on solo exhibitions. Monographs of his work were published by Kodansha (1990) and Fubaisha ("Tsuchi yo Honoo yo", 1997), followed by the Nagoya Arts Special Prize (1998) and the 2008 exhibition "Kato Tokuro, Shigetaka, Takahiro – Kamagure: Three Generations". In the Tea Room and Modern Interior In a Japanese tokonoma alcove, a single branch set into the square opening brings the dark iron glaze to life; on natural oak or stone in a European interior, the vessel stands equally well on its own as an abstract sculpture. One can imagine – and it is only imagined – the potter opening the kiln after days of firing, turning this column in the morning light to see where the iron ran black as obsidian and where the earth burned crimson. Accompanying Items and Details - Signed wooden box (tomobako) with blue-and-white cord; lid inscribed "Tetsuyu Kaki" (鉄釉 花器) and signed "Shigetaka saku" (重高 作) with square red seal. - Yellow cloth (tomonuno) with red seal, plus printed accordion-folded biography leaflet (shiori). - Dimensions: H 18 × W 6 × D 6 cm. Condition: Excellent, undamaged condition. A little more of this vase's story awaits its new owner. This listing contains AI Visualisations. Please refer to the original photographs for the actual object condition. Shipping & Handling Shipped from Japan, carefully packed to protect the vase and its wooden box, with tracking provided. We guarantee this piece is as described. 1849