砂糖黍文徳利|Bottle with sugarcane

Hamada Shōji

ca. 1960s · Stoneware with iron-oxide decoration · Asian Art

After working in England with Bernard Leach, Hamada established his workshop in Mashiko, a small town north of Tokyo. He was a major figure of the mingei (folk craft) movement and drew inspiration from folk pottery styles, adopting local clay and glazes. His favored sugarcane motif, seen here, was ultimately reduced to abstraction after being painted thousands of times. Hamada’s demonstrations and exhibitions in the U.S. in 1952–53 had a major impact on potters, especially his hand-building and hand-spun wheel techniques.

Artist

Hamada Shōji

Date

ca. 1960s

Medium

Stoneware with iron-oxide decoration

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Rogers Fund and Richard and Peggy Danziger and Anonymous Gifts, 1994