Ceramic box by Toshinari Ichino

"Ceramic box by Toshinari Ichino"

Height: 8.8 cm Width: 8.2 cm

I. Work Overview - Tanba Modernism, where "straight lines and curves" resonate with each other

This ceramic box was created by Ichino Toshinari, a leading artist of the next generation in Tamba Tachikui. The elegant cubic body is enveloped in a lustrous black glaze, and atop it is a softly contoured vermilion lid. The serenity created by the straight lines and the fluctuation contained in the curves are in balance within this piece, making it a minimalist yet powerful piece.

II. Color and Texture: The Contrast of Jet Black Glaze and Vermilion Clay Lid

Body (black glaze)

The iron-rich Tanba red clay is covered with a black glaze made from a mixture of pine ash and iron, and then fired in a climbing kiln at a reduction temperature of around 1,280°C. The flickering flame leaves brown "runs" everywhere, creating a shade that is not simply black, but shifts from deep dark brown to jet black .

Lid (red clay unglazed)

While making the most of the vermilion color of the base material, the irregularly beveled edges create an organic form that resembles solidified melted wax. The rectangular handle rising from the center is a sharp accent that echoes the straight lines of the body.

III. Technique explanation: precise board making and high-temperature firing

Plate making and molding

The clay boards are precisely cut and then joined together to prevent distortion by chamfering the corners. This is a highly difficult process that is unique to boxes, but Toshinari completes it without even the slightest error.

Bisque firing and glaze

After bisque firing at 800°C, the inside and outside of the body are coated with black glaze. The lid is polished without any glaze, allowing the iron in the clay to oxidize and develop its color.

Honyaki

The reduction is gradually strengthened over a 30-hour period in a climbing kiln, bringing out the luster of the black glaze while vividly fixing the vermilion clay lid. The key is to adjust the temperature to take into account the difference in shrinkage at the joint.

IV. Background of the design: Protection and storage in the "box"

Since ancient times, boxes have been used to store and protect precious items such as incense, medicine, and sutras. The cube, which is closed on all four sides, symbolizes a "barrier," keeping the contents hidden within pure while also carrying a magical significance of blocking out impurities from the outside world. While taking this traditional design into consideration, Toshinari has elevated it into a modern form using the contrast of yin and yang in black and vermilion .

V. Uses and Pleasures - Highly Flexible Containerable Art

Jikiro (food basket) at the tea ceremony : When dried sweets are placed inside, the red lid makes the colors of the sweets stand out.

Incense box : This box contains fragrant wood or paste incense, allowing you to enjoy the changing fragrance each time you open the lid.

Trinket box/jewelry box : The linear interior space makes it easy to organize, and the jet black glaze brings out the beauty of gold and silver jewelry.

Flower vase : When you remove the lid and place a flower spike, the small flowers are reflected in the mirror-like surface of the black glaze, creating a dignified scene.

Collectible value - Rareness as a usable three-dimensional object

Boxes, which maintain perfect parallelism of the cube while controlling the difference in shrinkage due to the thickness of the glaze, are highly difficult to produce and are therefore extremely limited in number. Furthermore, the duet of black glaze and vermilion clay is a design that could be said to be Toshinari's unique signature. As a representative "cube box" from the artist's early period, this piece could serve as an important benchmark for tracing his future artistic career.

The "Ichino Toshinari Ceramic Box" is a tranquil piece of containerable art, woven together with the depth of Tanba clay and geometric shapes. What to store inside and where to place it - the story unfolds endlessly depending on the user's sensibilities. Please add it to your home and enjoy the shadows created by the contrast of black and vermilion, and the texture that improves with age, in your daily life.