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Japan pottery lineage of Hamada Tomoo

April 23, 2010

It is interesting to observe that Japan has about thirty potters that are considered National Treasures and as such their pieces can command a high price. A pottery piece in Japan can be valued as highly as a framed painting. From a collecting perspective, any signed piece from any of the Japanese potters with a family lineage is usually worthwhile. Pottery from the Edo period or from the famous pottery centers is also collectible.

The Japanese potter, Hamada Tomoo continues to evolve his families techniques, using their legendary Mashiko kiln, in new directions with his original designs using traditional materials.

Hamada Tomoo is the grandson of Hamada Shoji, a Japanese “National Living Treasure” and the major figure of the mingei folk-art movement.

Tawara vase – Tomoo Hamada

As stated by Japanese Art historian, Andrew Maske :

“The world of traditional ceramics in Japan naturally places great emphasis on lineage. Lines of potters that began in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century are now in their fourteenth or fifteenth generations. A lineage of only three generations may seem insignificant by comparison, but the Hamada family makes it clear that it is not the length of the line that is most important, but rather the quality of the work.“ Hamada Tomoo’s pottery utilize essentially the same materials as those of Hamada Shinsaku(his father) and Hamada Shoji (his grandfather ) – glazes like reddish brown kaki, brown tenmoku, cobalt blue, white rice straw ash, bluish-white namako, green seiji, black kurogusuri, creamy nuka, translucent namijiro, and runny-green wood ash, all used to cover a speckled tan clay dug and formulated right in Mashiko”.

“Unlike his elders, however, Tomoo has become much more daring in the use of unconventional shapes, extensive application of overglaze enameled decorations, and surface textures. In particular, his tiered flasks are very progressive, and unlike anything seen before in a mingei genre. It is clear that Tomoo has been looking beyond the works of his forebears, examining works from the early English Arts and Crafts movement, and even from art nouveau.”