This emphatically sculpted form was one of a group of works shown by Isezaki Jun at the Fine Art Society in November 2013 as part of the exhibition ‘Four Living National Treasures of Japan’. Isezaki is the fifth Bizen appointee to the title of Living National Treasure since the system was established by the Japanese government in 1955. He is renowned for the constantly experimental approach he takes to the Bizen ceramic tradition, which has a history dating back to the twelfth century. The ‘Fusetsu’ of the work’s title translates as ‘Wind-driven Snow’, a reference to the vigorously articulated striations that slant across the vessel’s surface. The ‘Kuro’ means ‘Black’ and refers to the distinctive technique developed by Isezaki of using iron-rich slip to darken the surface of his pots. The intensity of the dark slip is tempered by the localised settling of fly ash from the wood used to fuel the kiln as greenish-brown residues on the flat surfaces of the clay.