Tetsu-yū 鉄釉 Seiji 青瓷

Koichi graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine arts where he later taught), and took up an apprenticeship under (later) Living National Treasure Tomimoto Kenkichi. He established his own kiln in Tochigi prefecture, 1953. He was awarded the JCS (Japan Ceramics Society) award in 1956, and the JCS gold award, perhaps Japans most prestigious pottery prizes, in 1975. With a very impressive career both domestic and international, Koichi too was designated a Living National Treasure for work with iron glaze the year before his death, 1986. Works are held in the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto, Brooklyn Museum and the British Museum among many others.

Tamura Koichi, throughout his long career, demonstrated a mastery of wheel throwing, glazing and firing techniques. Since childhood, he showed a talent for drawing and assisted his father, a third generation doll maker. It was a seminal visit to the mingei (folk art) potters Hamada Shoji and Sakuma Totaro in nearby Mashiko that drew him to the field of ceramics.

Initially his works showed the influence of Hamada, but quickly he became known for iron-glazed works that featured reddish-brown, persimmon glazed wax-resist designs against a black ground. A further innovation was his application of brushed white hakeme glaze beneath his iron-oxide patterning. Later on, he further augmented these designs with copper red and lastly experimented with a celadon green glaze ground. His work is characterized by strong brushwork and lyrical, asymmetrical designs. He was designated in 1986 as the Living National Treasure for tetsu-e techniques (iron-glazed patterned ceramics). [Mirviss]

See: Frederick Baekeland, ed., Modern Japanese Ceramics in American Collections, pg. 151