Ceramic and urushi lacquer
2026
Wheel-thrown ceramic, celadon glaze made from wood ash, poured over the form; fired in a traditional noborigama climbing kiln using ,plit pine wood, finished in urushi with matte gold and silver decoration by Nishimura Keikō
7,6 x 12,1 x 11,2 cm (2.99 x 4.76 x 4.41 in)
Unique collaborative piece. Accompanied by a tomobako (custom wooden box), inscribed by Matsubayashi Hosai XVI, with Nishimura Keikō’s signature and seal on the box
A collaborative work in which a chawan that reinterprets traditional celadon glaze through Hosai XVI’s distinctive idiom is finished in urushi by lacquer artist Nishimura Keikō, creating layers of contrasting materials and textures: clay, glaze and lacquer. Conceived with a strong awareness of the chawan as an artwork to be held and experienced through touch, the collaboration explores contemporary expression and the possibilities of craft through this material layering. The matte gold and silver are applied so quietly that they efface their own presence, leaving the still, quiet bearing of the celadon glaze intact.
Born in 1980 in Uji, Kyoto, Japan, ceramicist Matsubayashi Hosai XVI comes from a family with over 400 years of […]
