Gosu incense burner by Shin Fujihira

Width 9cm x 9cm Height 19cm

The beauty of the fantastic "Gosu incense burner"

The Gosu Incense Burner is a poetic piece by ceramic artist Shin Fujihira, and its shape is a fantastical one, like a tower that has come out of a picture book. Its rectangular, slender form combines elegance with warmth, creating a design that evokes a sense of nostalgia.
The surface is also covered with a pale gosu glaze that drips down, creating a beautiful, translucent blue glow . This blue hue changes its appearance subtly depending on the light and the viewpoint, making it a piece that you'll want to admire forever. The gentle texture of the clay itself also gives the piece a soft impression, and the perfect fusion of the clay color and the gosu blue is a major feature of this incense burner.

With its simple yet poetic design, the Gosu Incense Burner blends naturally into any space, such as an entrance hall, an office desk, or a living room. This piece, which combines practicality with artistic value, demonstrates how Shin Fujihira excelled at linking the everyday with art.

What is Gosu? The magic of blue that colors pottery

Gosu is a traditional blue pigment used for underglaze painting on ceramics. Its main component is cobalt oxide, and it also contains trace elements such as iron, manganese, and nickel, which produces a vivid indigo-blue or purple-blue color when fired . This blue color holds an important place in the history of Japanese ceramics, and is an essential material for the blue-and-white technique of Arita ware and Hasami ware in particular.

Gosu can be broadly divided into natural and synthetic. Natural gosu is extracted from mines as "gosu clay" and is characterized by its natural flavor due to the balance of the ingredients it contains. On the other hand, synthetic gosu is made from a chemical mixture that mainly contains cobalt, but the coloring can be less stable than natural gosu. This instability can sometimes be appreciated as a "flavor."

The appeal of gosu lies in the handiwork of the artisans who paint it, and the unpredictable changes that occur during firing . The different coloring of each piece gives each piece of ceramic a unique personality, and the characteristic that "no two pieces are the same." This characteristic is also utilized in the "Gosu Incense Burner," expressing a calculated beauty amidst chance.

Shin Fujihira: Uniqueness as a Poet of Ceramic

He is an artist who has carved out a unique position in the field of contemporary ceramics as a "poet of ceramics." Born as the second son of a ceramics company in Gojozaka, Kyoto, Fujihira was familiar with ceramics from an early age, and after overcoming an illness, he began making ceramics in earnest. His works go beyond mere vessels; by incorporating elements of sculpture and painting, he has developed a unique worldview that is poetic and rich in narrative .

His style shows the influence of ancient Chinese Ming wares and figurines (burial goods buried in tombs). In particular, the "Gosu Incense Burner," with its tower-like shape and elegant decoration, exudes a poetic charm reminiscent of the architectural styles of the Tang Dynasty in China. Furthermore, by not using a potter's wheel but instead employing free-form techniques such as hand-twisting and tatara molding, Tohei pursued new forms of expression in ceramics. The lines are hard yet warm, and while he uses traditional techniques such as gosu and ash glaze, he exudes a modern sensibility that transcends them . The "Gosu Incense Burner" is another piece that symbolizes the multifaceted nature of Tohei's creativity.

The Poetic Elegance and Practicality of the Gosu Incense Burner

This incense burner not only possesses artistic value as a work of ceramic art, but also has practical uses. When used as an incense burner, it spreads a gentle fragrance throughout your daily life, while its beautiful design provides visual soothing. In particular, the tower-like shape, finished with the blue gosu, creates a mystical atmosphere in the space. Beloved by many for both interior and practical use, this piece demonstrates the rich possibilities of ceramics. Appreciating the Gosu Incense Burner is synonymous with experiencing Shin Fujihira's ceramic philosophy: finding poetry in the everyday and creating new beauty while engaging with nature . Holding this piece in your hands will allow you to experience even more the profound appeal of ceramics.

Shin Fujihira's biography
1944 Entered Kyoto Higher Technical School but dropped out due to illness
1945 Started pottery making at Fujihira Ceramic Arts
1957 Received the Hokuto Prize at the 13th Nitten Exhibition
1960 Florence International Ceramic Exhibition, Italy
1963 Received the Chrysanthemum Award at the 6th Shin-Nichi Exhibition and the Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Merit Award
1968 New Generation Contemporary Ceramic Art Exhibition: The Present of Ceramic Art - From Kyoto
1970 Contemporary Ceramics Europe and Japan Exhibition
1973 Received the Japan Ceramic Society Award
1974 Latin America traveling exhibition
1976 East German Touring Exhibition of Japanese Ceramics
1978 Traveling Exhibition of Japanese Ceramics in West Germany
1982 US/Canada traveling exhibition
1983 Contemporary Japanese Crafts Exhibition
1985: Perspectives on Contemporary Japanese Art
1990 Kyoto Art and Culture Award
1991 Kyoto City Cultural Merit Award

"This is a new, unused piece. It is currently stored at the Shin Fujihira Memorial Museum. When you purchase it, his son, Yasushi Fujihira, will create a box to certify that it is an authentic piece."

A conversation with Mr. Yasushi Fujihira