Hafū Matsumoto (b. 1952), basket, 2007H 36 x W 28cmMadake bamboo, inside lacquer + wood storage boxPrice on applicationHafu Matsumoto studied under Iiizuka Shokansai (who was designated a Living National Treasure in 1982). He then set up his own workshop and moved to Tateyama in Chiba in 1988. He is particularly known for making works out of whole flattened pieces of bamboo creating beautiful organic sculptures. In 2007 he received the Tokyo Governor’s Prize at the 48th East Japan Craft Art Exhibition and in 2014 he won the Japan Kogei Association Chairman’s prize at the 61st Dento Kogei Ten (Japanese Traditional Craft Art) exhibition. His work is in major collections including the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA.
Koji Hatakeyama (b. 1956)Lg. bronze box & cover - 6 faces, 2016H 22.8 x W 28.5 x D 14 cm.Patinated cast bronze, gold leaf + wood storage boxPrice on applicationKoji Hatakeyama was born and grew up in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, renowned for metal casting. He makes unpretentious cast bronze brilliantly coloured articles, particularly lidded boxes, which he does not intend to be necessarily functional. He is more interested in the artistic and spiritual worth of a piece, in his words ‘every article I make should live’.
He has exhibited widely in Japan and abroad and his work is in the permanent collections of The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, The Musée Tomo, Tokyo, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK and The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA.
Chieko Katsumata (b. 1950), Coral, 2015
H 37 x W 32 x D 32 cm
Shigaraki Stoneware, Chamotte
Price on application
Chieko Katsumata is inspired by vegetable and plant forms. Her hand pinched forms are fired many times with the outer layers of clay slip coloured with metallic dyes and pigments which she applies through gauze with a brush and multiple firings. In 2006 she was part of ‘Toji’ a major exhibition of Japanese Ceramics at the Sèvres Museum, Paris and in 2009 part of the all women artists exhibition ‘Touch Fire’ at Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts.
Takahiro Kondo (b. 1958), Zero, 2006
H 52.5 x W 29 x D15 cm.
White porcelain embossed with decorative circles, glass top and bottom + wood storage box
Price on application
Takayuki Sakiyama (b. 1958)
Chōtō (Listening to the Waves), 2019
H 29 x W 39.5 x D 30.5 cm.
Stoneware + wood storage box
Price on application
Takayuki Sakiyama lives near the sea on the Izu Peninsula where he create his swirling rippling stoneware sculptural vessels. His series ‘Chōtō’ - Listening to the Waves - along with their unique sand glazes, are intended to remind you of the ebb and flow of the ocean and its currents.
His work is in major Collections including The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres, Paris, France. The Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia, USA, The Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA and The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK.
In 2021 Takayuki Sakiyama was awarded a special mention at the LOEWE Craft Prize. Work by all of the shortlisted artists was displayed virtually at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Yukito Nishinaka (b. 1964), Yobitsugi ‘Daichi’ Earth, 2019
H 30.5 x W 29 D 22cm.
Glass, Gold leaf, Silver leaf + wood storage box
Price on application
Yukito Nishinaka is a glass artist bringing a distinctive Japanese aesthetic into his work and is particularly interested in having his vessels used in the Tea Ceremony. ‘The concept of my work ‘YO BI TSU GI’ is rebirth.‘YO BI TSU GI’ is the traditional restoring technique for the ceramic Tea bowl. Traditionally, URUSHI lacquer was used as glue to join the damaged parts together and finished with gold leaf, thus enhancing the broken parts with a renewed charm. I join my glass parts together using molten glass to create an image of ‘KIMONO’. Finally, I have reproduced my glass ‘YO BI TSU GI’ as my own interpretation to emphasise and harmonise the Japanese sense of beauty.’
In 2019 Nishinaka was commissioned to create a permanent Glass Zen Garden, Karesansui Garden (Eternal Affinity), at the Honen-in Temple, Kyoto, Japan. In 2020 the concept film for this project received the Gold Award at the World Media Festival hosted in Hamburg, Germany.
Nishinaka’s work is held in many International public collections, including The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France, The Daiichi Museum, Nagoya, Japan and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
Koichi Io, Three legs Shakudo vessel, 2021
H 22.5 x W 24 x D 22cm
Hammer raised patinated shakudo (1% gold) + wood storage box
Price: £9,000 (plus any applicable taxes)
Koichi Io was born into a traditional metal making family, both his grandfather and his father are renowned metal artists. After learning from his father, he went onto further studies in Seoul, Korea. He makes simple hammer raised vessels in copper, kuromido and shakudo. In 2009 he won the Merit Award “6th Cheongiu International Craft Competition” and in 2014 The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased their first piece from him. In 2018 he won the Bayerische Staatspreis in Munich for special design and technical achievements in his craft.
Koichi Io was a finalist at the 2019 LOEWE Craft Prize. All shortlisted work was displayed at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo.
Io’s work is held in the following major collections: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK and Cheongju City, South Korea.
Koichi Io was a finalist at the 2019 LOEWE Craft Prize. All shortlisted work was displayed at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo.
- Koichi Io, Whirl vase, 2019H 16 x W 21 x D 21 cm.Patinated copper + wood storage boxPrice: £3,500 (plus any applicable taxes)Koichi Io was born into a traditional metal making family, both his grandfather and his father are renowned metal artists. After learning from his father, he went onto further studies in Seoul, Korea. He makes simple hammer raised vessels in copper, kuromido and shakudo. In 2009 he won the Merit Award “6th Cheongiu International Craft Competition” and in 2014 The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased their first piece from him. In 2018 he won the Bayerische Staatspreis in Munich for special design and technical achievements in his craft.Koichi Io was a finalist at the 2019 LOEWE Craft Prize. All shortlisted work was displayed at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo.Io’s work is held in the following major collections: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, UK and Cheongju City, South Korea.Koichi Io was a finalist at the 2019 LOEWE Craft Prize. All shortlisted work was displayed at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo.
