223 - † HAMADA SHOJI (DESIGNATED LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE): A STONEWARE ALBARELLO FLOWER VASE

† HAMADA SHOJI (DESIGNATED LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE): A STONEWARE ALBARELLO FLOWER VASE By Hamada Shoji (1894-1978), signed and sealed to the tomobako Japan, c. 1960, Showa period (1926-1989) Finely potted, the cylindrical body with subtly incurved sides, the lower portion gently narrowing toward a short, flared foot and rising to a slightly tapered neck with a thick-lipped rim. The buff stoneware body covered in white slip and transparent glaze, the central section swept with broad, overlapping hakeme brushstrokes and painted in dark iron with abstract stem-and-leaf motifs. The interior is covered in a dark iron glaze with streaks of enigmatic blue. HEIGHT 19.3 cm Condition: Excellent condition. With the original wood tomobako inscribed Hanabin (Flower Vase), signed Shoji and sealed. Hamada Shoji (1894-1978) studied ceramics at the Tokyo Higher Technical School (present-day Institute of Science Tokyo), with Kawai Kanjiro under Itaya Hazan. As the sole students in the school interested in becoming artist-potters, Hamada and the slightly elder Kawai soon became friends, touring the city in search of inspiration. Anchored in the Japanese Mingei movement created under the leadership of Soetsu Yanagi around 1925, Hamada focused on the beauty of everyday pieces by settling in the traditional pottery village of Mashiko. He used local stoneware, which he turned or molded into vessels with concave or convex, faceted or raised walls and decorated with a ladle or brush. Shoji Hamada's reputation crosses borders, notably in France and England, where he built the first multi-chambered recumbent kiln of Asian type in the West with his long-time friend Bernard Leach. But it was in his native country that he achieved the greatest recognition, being named a Living National Treasure before his death in 1978. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related stoneware albarello vase by Hamada Shoji, dated circa 1960, 22 cm high, at Sotheby's, Fine Japanese Art, 15 May 2020, London, lot 43 (mid-estimated at GBP 2,500 or approx. EUR 3,900 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.