Financial Times Weekend 22-23Feb2020

22 February/23 February 2020 ★ FTWeekend 11

run, the way that life leaves its marks on
you, is beautiful.
I began to find those ideas of freedom
and acceptance useful in my daily
life. Some dealings with people at
the bank or the café had
frustrated me with
a certain avoidant circu-
larity. But I started to
approach my encoun-
ters with more tran-
quillity. In the same
way, a complicated
romance mellowed into
an easy friendship. I
would like to say I came
to appreciate the marks
that life has left on my
body — but let’s not go overboard.
The exhibition also made me realise
how conservative my first forays into

collecting Japanese ceramics had been,

with my preference for pieces in the

blue-and-white style familiar in the UK,

Europe and America. This makes

the process sound analytical and

conscious. It was not, but I

noticed my tastes changing

once I had given up plot-

ting how I might heist

the Suntory master-

pieces and instead

returned to buying my

own ceramics.

At the United Nations

University market, a

bourgeois affair held at

weekends, selling per-

fect produce at high

prices, I found a stand tucked away

beyond the racks of retro clothes,

where two men were selling their

handiwork. The first ceramic that

grabbed me was something between a

saucer and a bowl, two-thirds covered

in a creamy cracked glaze, the rest in

translucent rust-brown

which bubbled at the

edge and spilled over

into the white.

In the past, I would have

assumed the slippage was

an error, the product of a

lack of technique. But I now

saw it as a kind of freedom,

letting the material go

where it may.

The second piece was a

small cup with steep, flat

sides, its rough exterior

largely glazed with smooth sweeping

horizontal strokes of brown, white,

pale blue, pale green. As I turned it in

my hands, the colours gathered, lay-

ered and faded. I bought them both.

These strokes seemed to tell a story,

to offer a narrative of change which is

n o t s o m e t h i n g I h a d

thought abstract pot-

tery — as opposed to

heroic myths on ancient

Greek vases — could do.

Japanese ceramics are

speaking to me in a lan-

guage I am gradually learn-

ing to understand.

As for romance, a recent

date took me to a ceramics

shop in Meguro’s antiques

district. I did not buy any

pottery, but the man and I

are still talking.

Insidethe Chachanoma teashop— Yasuyuki Takagi for the FT Josh Spero is an FT journalist living in Tokyo

Cup bought at

the UN University

market

Momoyama-period dish

with handle, 17th C

Suntory Museum of Art

Japanese life has drawn on

Korean and Chinese ideas —

for everything from religion to

art — adopting and

then refining them,

and ceramics are

no exception.

Blue-greySue

pottery (right)

spread from Korea to

Japan in the 5th century,

succeeded by Chinese

brown, green and white

Sancai(three-colour) ware in

the Asuka, Hakuko and Nara

periods (538-794).

Distinctive pale-green celadon

ceramics arrived from Song

China in the Heian era

(794-1185), when literary

classics such asThe Tale of

GenjiandThe Pillow Book

were written.

Chinese ceramics

were again highly

valued in the

Kamakura and

Muromachi

periods (1185-

1573), but towards

the end of this era

and in the Momoyama

period (1573-1600), the

popularity of the tea ceremony

led to the development of

distinctly Japanese ware.

From the 17th century, Japan

developed its own porcelain,

having learnt from Korean

craftsmen. It moved from early

blue-and-white items known as

Imariware into pieces with

the more sophisticated

overglaze

enamelling

technique from

China, using red,

blue, green, gold and

more. The finest is

Nabeshimaware (below),

with its Japanese motifs.

Where to buy

— Omotesando Chachanoma

(teashop with occasional

exhibitions): 5-13-14 Jingumae,

Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001

— Yumiko Iihoshi Porcelain:

5-45-3 Jingumae, Shibuya,

Tokyo 150-0001

— UN University

market

(weekends): 5-

53-70 Jingumae,

Shibuya,

Tokyo 150-8925

— Gallery

Utsuwakan:

Higashino-cho

20-17 Murasakino,

Kita, Kyoto 603-8232.

There are also several

fine ceramics shops along the

road that runs between

Kiyomizu-dera and Kodaiji

temples in Kyoto.

A brief history of Japanese ceramics

House Home

(From left) The Suntory Museum of Art, where the author learnt more about ceramics; tea accessories at the Chachanoma teashop— Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Alamy Stock Photo

Alamy

FEBRUARY 22 2020 Section:Weekend Time: 19/2/2020 - 18: 10 User: rosalind.sykes Page Name: RES11, Part,Page,Edition: RES, 11, 1