tsubo, Itō Sekisui

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.