9-sun Moon Plate by Osamu Tsutsui

Osamu Tsutsui’s control over his kiln allows him to create natural, ‘lunar’ surface decoration on his pieces using the movements of ash, and his ‘ginka’ technique to create silver carbonised glaze.

His moon plates are hence striking items to present food, or ornamentally within the home.

(In pottery in Japan it is common to use the traditional measurement scale. Stretch your forefinger and your thumb and the distance is half of one shaku. This means a shaku is approximately 30cm. A sun is one tenth of this, or 3.03cm. This 9-sun plate is hence intended to be about 27.3 cm).

Size : 27cm x 27cm x 3cm

Weight:1200g

The nature of the handmade process to create the pieces means there are differences between each plate.

About Osamu Tustsui

A true veteran of the Kasama pottery scene, Osamu Tsutsui’s stoneware is known widely for its elemental quality and dramatic forms.  Born in Nagano, Tsutsui studied with the potter Isamu Miura in Tokyo in the late 1960s, and emerged from the craft and design scene of this period.  He built the kiln he still works at in Kasama, together with the house next to it, in 1976.  Tsutsui’s large pieces are held in collections, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and combine a confidence in form with the markings of natural glaze from ash movements in his kiln.  He also makes work for the table, and can be found with his wares at Kasama ceramic fairs.  These items too show the power of Tsutsui’s ceramic imagination, and his skill.