TAMURA Koichi 田村耕一 1918-1987
H5 x Dia6.8 cm
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A master of traditional wheel-thrown clay, Tamura Koichi was inspired heavily by two important Mingei potters, Hamada Shoji and Sakuma Totaro. Like Kondo Yuzo, Tamura apprenticed under the Living National Treasure Tomimoto Kenkichi after the second world war, and was trained in painterly surfaces for export porcelain for some time. He also honed his talent for image and the brush at the Art Academy (ceramic design dept.) in Tokyo. As a result, his iron glazed drawings and persimmon glazed wax-resist designs on his ceramic works are on a league entirely of their own.
Tamura also furthered his natural talent for brushwork on the decorative surfaces of ceramics by formulating an innovative technique where he brushes a white hakeme glaze under his iron-oxide adornments on his ceramics. For his mastery over designs and iron-glaze innovations, Tamura was designated as a Living National Treasure in 1986, a year before his passing, for his contribution to the decorative arts.