The Kyoto-born potter Kusube Yaichi has been raised to almost a legendary status in the world of modern & contemporary Japanese ceramics. Born as the fourth son of Sennosuke Kusube 楠部千之助, who himself studied classical painting, he entered the pottery world early as a pioneering force of developing new glazes and innovating new artistic sensibilities in the world of ceramics. Once he graduated from the Kyoto Municipal Ceramics Research Institute, Kusube immediately began making ceramics as an individual artist, exhibiting accordingly by this profession.

Due to Kusube’s international affiliations– with his pottery family originally specializing in export wares– he began exhibiting internationally early on. He propelled himself into a new and avant-garde ceramic spirit from the 1920s to 1940s. In 1924, he won several awards at the Paris World’s Fair, and then again over a decade later in the 1936 iteration. Though he has mastered a huge range of techniques from Oribe, to sometsuke, to gold glazed works, to overglaze painting, he is most famous for his “Saiso” works, which have been received with high commendations. His modern forms as appreciated in flower vases and incense burners in the later years are particularly coveted. With slender forms that carry an aerodynamic quality, his affinity for graceful forms were ahead of his time.

He was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit, and his works are highly celebrated among collectors and connoisseurs in Japan.