When I was in Japan I met someone who had worked with Shimaoka. My acquaintance had acquired some shards from Shimaoka's BIG pots that Shimaoka thought not of the quality he wanted and so had destroyed. My acquaintance gave me one of the shards which has the classic rope inlay design. I've tried to make photos of the work to show you--but the quality is not great (my camera or my skills with the camera?) The shard measures 3" X 2".
I turned off the flash in the following because of the reflection, but it did not help much.
The shard is very thick--it measures a full 3/8 inch. But then he was making BIG pots!
There is no texture from the rope inlay--there is a lot of texture to the piece but it is from the clay not the design.
3 comments:
Hi Gay, Just this morning I noticed you left a comment on my blog a few weeks ago, so I answered it, but I guess you won't see it unless you look at my blog. So here I am. Interesting shards! I have a shard I picked up on a riverbank in China; I was so thrilled to find it! It is brown clay, and iron red on the surface, but you can see white slip underneath. It has a very gentle curve, like it was from a Huge bowl.
Hi, Ann. I was surprised when I was given the shard--I don't think I had enough appreciation at the time. But I've really enjoyed having it and getting to 'study' it over time. It does challenge me to understand how he gets such a strong imprint with the inlay without any apparent indention in the clay surface. I must be missing something!
I'd love to make a 'pottery' trip to China--the ancestral home for potters just as Rome is the ancestral home for Catholics! But I think I am a few years too late for that.
Don't run too fast! Gay
Thanks Gay. I think that answers my question about the influences - I think I now understand what you're trying to achieve, and it fits with what I thought you were trying to achieve. They're nice things to have - those shards - the lack of indentation in the clay surface is intriguing.
Looking forward to seeing how your pot turns out.
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