Sometsuke 染付

Donated to PAM in 2024 -- 2025.24.35

Two kanji appear on the tokkuri - they are read seifu青風 which means "refreshing breeze" blowing thru bamboo.

Kondo Yuzo (1902-1985) was born in the Gojozaka district of Kyoto and studied alongside Kawai Kanjiro and Hamada Shoji at the Kyoto Ceramics Reseaerch facility, where he studied kiln technique directly under Shoji. He then apprenticed under recently returned Tomimoto Kenkichi for three years before establishing himself as a unique artist in the Kiyomizu district of Kyoto in 1924. He served as a professor at the Kyoto University of Art where he helped shape generations of potters. After an illustrious career he was named a Living National Treasure for Sometsuke Porcelain in 1977. Works by the artist are held in the collectin of the LACMA, Cleveland and Brooklyn Museums of Art, Kyoto Municipal and Tokyo National Museums of Modern Art among many others.

See: Frederick Baekeland, ed., Modern Japanese Ceramics in American Collections, pg. 172

１９０２年　京都市清水寺下に生まれる。
１９１４年　京都東山区安井小学校卒業。
　　　　　 　京都市立陶磁器試験場附属伝修所ロクロ科に入所。
１９１７年　伝修所卒業。
　　　　　 　京都市立陶磁器試験場助手として勤務。

１９２１年　富本憲吉の助手として大和安堵村に行く。
１９２４年　京都に戻り関西美術院洋画研究所に通院。
　　　　 　　自宅で作陶始める。
１９２８年　帝展初入選。
１９３９年　文展特選。
１９５０年　日展の審査員になる。
１９５３年　京都市立美術大学の陶磁器科助教授に就任。
１９５６年　日本伝統工芸会賞受賞。
１９５８年　京都市立美術大学教授に任命。
１９６５年　京都市立美術大学学長になる。
１９６７年　イランラレージン村に滞在。
１９７０年　紫綬褒章受章。
１９７３年　勲三等瑞宝章受章、京都市文化功労者章受章。
１９７４年　京都府美術工芸功労者章受章。
１９７７年　国の重要無形文化財（染付技法）保持者に認定。
１９８０年　紺綬褒章受章。
１９８５年　８３歳で死去。

陶磁器染付の最高峰・ロクロの名手と称される作家です。染付に金彩を組み合わせる技法など、独自の世界感を伸び伸びと表現し、近代陶芸の代表的作家としての地位を確立、大きな足跡を残しました

In 1924, when Kondō Yuzo set up a pottery studio at the foot of his family temple, Ōnishi Ryōkei 大西良慶, who was the master at Kiyomizu Temple, said “Work with mindfulness on top of mindfulness. (“Nen niwa nen wo irete shigoto wo seyo.” nenbutsu（念仏）= Buddhist prayer). This led to the name Nennendo （念々洞) of the shop and studio, loosely translated as “cavern of effort.”

Ōnishi Ryōkei (December 21, 1875 - February 15, 1983) was a Hosso Sect Buddhist monk who served as head priest of Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto and in his later years was also renowned for holding the record as the oldest person in Japan. He passed away in 1983 aged 108 years. He was born in Nara Prefecture and went under the pseudonym 'Muin.'

In 1889, he went to Kofuku-ji Temple in Nara where he entered the Buddhist priesthood under Teicho CHIHAYA. In 1890, he studied the yuishiki (consciousness-only theory) under Join SAEKI of Horyu-ji Temple. In 1899, he became the 231st head priest of Kofuku-ji Temple and was appointed chief abbot of the Hosso Sect in 1904.

In 1914, he was appointed head priest of Kiyomizu-dera Temple but retained his position as head priest of Kofuku-ji Temple. In 1965, he established the Kita Hosso Sect headquartered at Kiyomizu-dera Temple and assumed the position of chief abbot. He had a deep knowledge of Buddhist sects other than the Hosso Sect and successively held several important positions within the world of Buddhism. His Buddhist sermons known as Ryokei no Sechi were highly popular.