Kamiyama Kiyoko - 碗 - 石器 - 带有城垛状边缘的碗

Item Description
This is a striking stoneware bowl by 神山清子 Kamiyama Kiyoko (1936-2023), one of the most celebrated figures in the history of Shigaraki ware and widely regarded as a pioneering female potter in a tradition long dominated by men. Kamiyama devoted her career to exploring the natural ash glazes produced through wood-fired kilns, a technique known as Shigaraki shizen-yu, in which no glaze is applied and the surface effects arise entirely from ash deposits melting onto the clay during firing.

The bowl presents a bold, sculptural silhouette: a low, wide vessel whose rim is carved into an irregular, crenellated pattern reminiscent of a castle wall or eroded rock formation. The exterior walls are deeply grooved with vertical striations, while the interior is left smooth, showing warm tonal gradations from deep rust-orange to ash-grey where natural glaze has pooled and flowed during the wood firing. The unglazed footring reveals the coarse, sandy Shigaraki clay body typical of the region. A small incised mark is visible on the underside of the base.

This piece exemplifies Kamiyama's mature style, in which the raw beauty of the fired clay and the unpredictable results of the wood kiln are treated as the primary aesthetic element, rather than any applied decoration.

Size
Height: 11 cm
Width: 24.5 cm
Depth: 24.5 cm

Weight
2361 g / 2.361 kg

Condition
The bowl is in good overall condition consistent with its handmade, wood-fired origin; natural firing marks, small clay inclusions, and minor surface roughness are inherent to the making process rather than damage. No chips, cracks, or repairs were noted on visual inspection.

Artist Profile
Kamiyama Kiyoko (1936-2023) is regarded as a pioneer among Shigaraki's female potters. Born on 2 August 1936 in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, she was based for most of her career in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture, and passed away on 22 December 2023 at the age of 87.

She began working as a pottery decorator in Shigaraki in 1954, later moved to study Kenzan ware and sometsuke underglaze painting, and started working seriously with clay at the age of 27. Her signature achievement was the revival of an ancient Shigaraki glazing technique: inspired by an encounter with old Shigaraki ceramics, she worked energetically from 1970 onward to explore the beauty of Shigaraki shizen-yu, including the lustrous effects achieved through wood-fired anagama kilns. In doing so, she broke into a male-dominated world in which women had traditionally been barred from the wood-fired kiln.

Kamiyama exhibited widely and received numerous honours, including recognition at the Nihon Dento Kogei Ten (Japan Traditional Kogei Exhibition), the Nihon Togei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition) and the Asahi Togei Ten (Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition), alongside numerous exhibitions held overseas. She is considered one of the leading Shigaraki potters both in Japan and internationally, and her life inspired the 2005 feature film Hi-Bi (Days of Fire) and the 2019-2020 NHK television drama Scarlet.

All of her works are hand-built (tebineri) and fired without synthetic glazes, relying solely on the natural ash glaze produced within the wood kiln, the hallmark technique of her Sungoe Kiln (寸越窯) in Shigaraki.

Additional Information
Artist: Kamiyama Kiyoko (1936-2023), Shigaraki
Ware type: Shigaraki-yaki (信楽焼), wood-fired stoneware with natural ash glaze
Incised mark present on the base

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