tsubo

Itō Sekisui V, artist

born 1941

tsubo, mid-late 1900s

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: stoneware

Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 35.5 x 39.7 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 14 x 15 9/16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Friends of the Art Museum

Accession number: 1989.0018

On display: Lee Study Center

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Form & Flux: Contemporary East Asian Ceramics and Surface Stories

Itō Sekisui, a fifth-generation potter from Sado Island, carries on his family’s tradition of crafting Mumyoui-yaki, a delicate, reddish-brown porcelain. The clay, historically sourced from gold mines, was also used for medicinal purposes. Itō’s innovation lies in directing kiln flames to create striking red and black contrasts, while layering colored clay to add depth. His work reflects a modern interpretation of his family’s legacy, blending natural firing effects with contemporary design techniques.

Exhibition Label:
"Japan Re-imagined/Post-war Art," Mar-2008, Kris Ercums
Itō is the fifth generation of his family working with the Sekisui kiln, which has a long tradition of producing “Mumyoui-yaki” (Mumyoui porcelain), a unique pottery that originated in Sado Island—a remote location long used for political exile. “Mumyoui” is a fine and delicate
clay with a reddish-brown color. Extracted from the gold mines of the region, the clay historically was also used for medicinal purposes. Itō developed his own modern
interpretation of his family pottery tradition, creating a novel method for directing the flame in the kiln to create the red and black contrasts and using different layers of colored clay to create further contrasts on his vessels.

Archive Label 2003:
Ito Sekisui is the fifth generation of a family of potters on Sado Island, in the Japan Sea off the coast of western Japan. The family has specialized in unglazed stoneware since the kiln was founded in the 1840s. Ito family pottery has won prizes since the 19th century, when the imperial family bought ceramic ware from the Ito kiln. Like his forebears, Sekisui uses the reddish-brown clay found near his home and relies on the natural effects of the clay after firing for ornamentation. The subtle markings on the pot are produced by local reduction during firing.