Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 142, The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Gallery

Vase

1969 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Kamoda's untimely death from leukaemia in 1983 deprived Japan of one of its most talented artists of recent decades. During a remarkable career he explored in a continually evolving series of experiments the relationship between sculptural form and surface decoration. This vase belongs to a seminal period between his abandonment of the making of works inspired by early Japanese stonewares of the Nara (710-794) and Heian (794-1185) periods and his adoption, in the early 1970s, of polychrome decoration. It is distinguished by its combination of a strongly angular shape and sensitively modulated surface qualities, created by overlaying a faint resist pattern on a roughly textured unglazed body.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Stoneware, hand-built, with resist surface patterning and glazed interior
Brief description
Vase, Kamoda Shoji, Mashiko, Japan, 1968
Physical description
Vessel form of oblong cross section, flat base and angular front; faint resist pattern on roughly textured unglazed body; glazed interior
Dimensions
  • Height: 28.9cm
  • Width: 20.5cm
  • Depth: 15.4cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(Maker's mark; on base; incised)
Gallery label
VASE Stoneware with resist decoration Maker's mark incised on base Kamoda Shoji (1933-1983) 1968 FE. 31-1985 Until his untimely death in 1983 Kamoda Shoji was a leading figure among Japanese avant-garde potters. This vase reflects his fascination with delicate surface decoration on strong sculptural forms.
Object history
Kikuchi?
Production
Biographical reference: Japanese Ceramics Today (V&A, 1983), p.125. Mashiko
Summary
Kamoda's untimely death from leukaemia in 1983 deprived Japan of one of its most talented artists of recent decades. During a remarkable career he explored in a continually evolving series of experiments the relationship between sculptural form and surface decoration. This vase belongs to a seminal period between his abandonment of the making of works inspired by early Japanese stonewares of the Nara (710-794) and Heian (794-1185) periods and his adoption, in the early 1970s, of polychrome decoration. It is distinguished by its combination of a strongly angular shape and sensitively modulated surface qualities, created by overlaying a faint resist pattern on a roughly textured unglazed body.
Bibliographic references
  • Japanese Art and Design: the Toshiba Gallery Guide (V&A, 1986), fig.203, p.215.
  • Faulker, Rupert Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-Garde, London: Laurence King Publishing, 1995, plate no. 21.
Collection
Accession number
FE.31-1985

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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