Straw white glazed sake cup by Masashi Nishibata

Width: 9 cm Depth: 8.2 cm Height: 6 cm

This is a piece from the Straw White Glaze series that Nishibata Tadashi has been actively exploring in recent years. Though it is a small vessel that fits in the palm of your hand, its surface condenses the drama of the earth and clouds competing with each other.

Straw-white glaze spreading like white clouds

A thick layer of straw-white glaze flows over the red clay base, obscuring it, and shrinks during firing, forming cracks (crazing) reminiscent of ice floes floating on the surface of a lake. The reddish-brown base, which contains iron, seeps out from under the glaze, creating a rhythmic monochrome striped pattern of black and white.

Shaped like a tightly gripped hand

Rather than relying on a potter's wheel, the clay is shaped by being held in the palm of the hand, resulting in uneven thickness and distortion. The curves of the body and the unevenness of the rim retain the artist's fingertips' impressions, and when you actually hold it in your hand, your fingers fit naturally, giving you a sense of security.

The vitality of red soil

The red clay that peeks out from the unglazed areas is iron-rich clay collected in the mountains of Tanba. Firing at high temperatures gives it just the right amount of firmness, giving it a simple yet lustrous sheen that creates a vivid contrast with the softness of the white glaze.

The scenery is completed with sake

When sake is poured into the sake cup, the white glaze glows softly from within, highlighting the lines of the crazing more clearly. The expression of the glaze also changes subtly with each change in the temperature and type of sake, allowing the user to enjoy the ever-changing scenery. This "Straw White Glazed Sake Cup" is a masterpiece that allows you to experience Nishibata Tadashi's creative philosophy of "controlled chance" in the palm of your hand. The harmony of opposing elements—white and red, smooth and rough, calculated and accidental—will add a quiet uplift to your daily evening drink.

Tadashi Nishibata Biography

Born on February 24, 1948. Started making pottery in 1969. 1976. Hyogo Prefectural Exhibition Encouragement Award. 1986. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition for the first time. 1988. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Japan Crafts Association President's Award. 1989. Selected for the Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition. Nogawa Memorial Award, Handon no Kai. 1991. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Selected for the Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition. Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Forms Exhibition. 1992. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Excellence Award at the Tea Ceremony Forms Exhibition. Hyogo Prefecture Emerging Artist Encouragement Award. Invited to exhibit at the NHK-sponsored Paris - 100 Contemporary Japanese Ceramics Exhibition. Excellence Award at the Tea Ceremony Forms Exhibition. 1993. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Solo exhibition at Sogo Hiroshima store. Kyoto Chemin. 1994. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Solo exhibition at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store. 1995. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Solo exhibition at Sogo Hiroshima store. 1996. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Awarded the Excellence Award at the Tea Ceremony Design Exhibition, solo exhibition at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store
1997 Encouragement Award at the Tea Ceremony Design Exhibition 1998 Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition Solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition 2000 Solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store Solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Fukuoka 2001 Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition 2002 Solo exhibition at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store Solo exhibition at Gallery Dojima 2003 Solo exhibition at Touchingston, USA 2004 Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Design Exhibition at Sogo Hiroshima 2005 Exhibited at the Akashi City Museum of Culture and Hyogo Ceramics Exhibition Purchase of Akadobedai, Hyogo Ceramic Art Museum Solo exhibition at Gallery Dojima, Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store 2006 Grand Prize at the Tea Ceremony Design Exhibition Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the New York Japan Society Gallery Solo exhibition at Yokohama Takashimaya Touchingston, USA Father and Son Exhibition at Matsuyama Takashimaya Toshunkai Exhibition, Sogo Yokohama. Encouragement Award at the Tea Ceremony Art Exhibition. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition in 2008. Selected for the Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition. Solo Exhibition, Yokohama Takashimaya, Mitsukoshi Nihombashi, Santa Fe, Touchingston, USA. Toshunkai Exhibition, Funabashi, Seibu, Sogo Hiroshima. Invited to the Japanese Ceramics Exhibition in 2009. Solo Exhibition, Gallery Dojima, Sendai Mitsukoshi, 2010. Sogo Kobe. Exhibited in the Musee Tomo Grand Prize Exhibition, Contemporary Tea. Solo Exhibition, Yokohama Takashimaya, Touchingston, USA. Invited to the Japanese Ceramics Exhibition. Solo Exhibition, Joan B. Marvis, New York, USA. Invited to the Japanese Ceramics Exhibition in 2013. Exhibited in the "Contemporary Famous Bowls" exhibition at the Musee Tomo, Kanmi Kikuchi Memorial. Solo Exhibition, Mitsukoshi Nihombashi, Santa Fe, Touchingston, USA. Gallery Miyazaki, Sogo Kobe, Chiba Sogo, 2014. Solo Exhibition, Mitsukoshi Nihombashi, 2015. Received the Hyogo Prefecture Cultural Award in 2016. Exhibited at Higashihiroshima City Museum of Art for "Ceramics that Color Our Lives - Food Ware" Exhibited at Joan B. Marvis' 40th Anniversary Exhibition in 2017.
2018 Solo Exhibition at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store

A conversation with Tadashi Nishibata