This is a beautifully shaped Katakuchi with a rustic texture. When you first use it, it has a rough, earthy feel, but after using it for about a month, it gradually becomes smoother and smoother. This is a beautiful piece that you can use and enjoy, enjoying the feel of it in your hands.
Inheriting the Echizen technique, the Kondos' works are hand-made one by one. The ash from the wood-fired kiln becomes whitish and glassy, like glaze. Depending on the heat and placement of each piece in the kiln, it has a dull luster in some places and a unique shading on the surface.
Nobuyasu Kondo - Echizen Katakuchi
Potter's Name: Nobuyasu Kondo
Handmade in: Fukuoko, Japan
Capacity
Functionally for Brewing: 250ml
Measurements
Longest Length (from the top, measured till the spout): 12.5cm
Height: 7.8cmNobuyasu Kondo made his way to Echizen in what he describes as a “series of unplanned events.” Trained under Master Potter Juroemon Fujita VIII, he moved to work at Echizen Town community Pottery Studio after the completion of his training. It was there that he met the young female potter, Sanae, who later became his wife. The couple now shares a home and studio where they both work in their own styles of pottery.
Kondo and his wife fire an American, Olson-style wood kiln. Kondo’s kiln often leaves a fine, semi-textured surface with a light to dark speckled graphite color on both the rims and body. At other times, it appears to produce light hues of blue and red with smoky undertones on the tops and spouts of his teapots.
As Kondo works in his studio, the rhythmic sound of a paddle hitting a coil of clay brings to mind the vision of Juroemon Fujita VIII quietly shuffling his feet backwards around a large wazumi pot. For him, this is the spirit of Echizen. He tries not to over-contextualize the forms he makes and says he wants to step outside his mind and let his body take over as he produces his work.
