Bizen Hidasuki Guinomi Sake Cup by Yamamoto Yuichi with Signed Box

Experience authentic Japanese sake culture with this Bizen Hidasuki Guinomi by Yamamoto Yuichi. This Bizen Ware Sake Cup serves as a Fire Cord Pattern Stoneware and Handmade Unglazed Ceramic, featuring Okayama Cultural Property Craftsmanship and Wood Fired Kiln Artistry—a must-have for any Art Collector seeking Japanese Sake Accessories and Wabi Sabi Pottery.

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🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]

• Artist: Yamamoto Yuichi (山本雄一) — Okayama Prefecture Designated Important Intangible Cultural Property Holder
• Technique: Bizen ware (備前焼) — hidasuki (緋襷, fire-cord pattern) unglazed stoneware
• Era: Showa–Heisei period
• Origin: Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
• Dimensions: H approx. 4.8 cm × Dia approx. 4.9 cm × Foot approx. 3.4 cm
• Box: Tomobako (artist-signed wooden box) inscribed "備前 酒盃" with "雄一" signature and seal
• Condition: Excellent

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🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]

Yamamoto Yuichi occupies a place of deep significance in the lineage of Bizen ware. A direct student of Kaneshige Toyo — the Living National Treasure who single-handedly revived Bizen from postwar obscurity — Yamamoto inherited not merely technique, but a philosophy of working with earth and fire as co-authors. His designation as Okayama Prefecture Important Intangible Cultural Property holder reflects decades of disciplined practice and a body of work that carries the cultural weight of Bizen's six-century tradition.

This guinomi demonstrates the hidasuki technique at its most restrained and eloquent. Straw is wrapped around the raw clay body before it enters the kiln. Over days of sustained wood-firing, alkaline minerals in the straw react with the iron-rich Bizen clay, leaving behind delicate reddish-orange traces — a record of chemical conversation between organic and mineral matter. The marks are not applied. They arrive.

*"The straw burns away. What remains is the memory of contact — written in iron and flame."*

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🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]

**Bizen Ware — Earth Without Intermediary**: Bizen is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns (六古窯), with an unbroken history stretching back to the Kamakura period. Unlike most Japanese ceramics, Bizen uses no glaze whatsoever. The surface character emerges entirely from the iron-rich clay, the path of flame through the kiln, and the placement of each piece within the firing chamber. This radical simplicity demands mastery — there is nothing to conceal imperfection.

**The Hidasuki Technique**: The word hidasuki (緋襷) translates as "fire cord" or "scarlet sash." Rice straw wrapped around the piece serves as both separator and collaborator. During the 10–14 day firing cycle at temperatures exceeding 1200°C, the straw's potassium and sodium compounds fuse into the clay surface, producing warm reddish-orange linear patterns against the pale ochre body. Each mark is unrepeatable — the kiln decides the final composition.

**Yamamoto Yuichi's Legacy**: Born in Bizen and apprenticed under Kaneshige Toyo, Yamamoto helped establish the modern Bizen aesthetic that honors the material's inherent character. His work is held in public collections across Japan, and his quiet, confident forms reflect a maker who understood that authorship in Bizen means knowing when to step aside and let the kiln speak.

**Functional Presence**: This guinomi sits naturally in the hand. The compact proportions and gentle curvature of the lip invite slow, attentive drinking — sake experienced as a contemplative act rather than casual consumption. The unglazed interior subtly influences the texture of the sake on the tongue.

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🔹 [ 日本語解説 ]

【基本情報】
• 作家：山本雄一（岡山県指定重要無形文化財保持者）
• 技法：備前焼 緋襷（ひだすき）
• 時代：昭和〜平成
• 産地：岡山県備前市
• 寸法：高 約4.8cm × 口径 約4.9cm × 高台径 約3.4cm
• 付属：共箱（「備前 酒盃」銘、「雄一」署名・落款入り）
• 状態：良好

【解説】
山本雄一は、人間国宝・金重陶陽に師事し、備前焼の伝統を次代へ繋いだ重要な作家です。岡山県指定重要無形文化財保持者として、その作陶は土と炎の対話を忠実に守り続けました。

本作は緋襷の技法による酒盃です。成形した素地に藁を巻き付けて窯詰めし、長時間の薪窯焼成を経ることで、藁に含まれるアルカリ成分が鉄分豊富な備前土と反応し、温かみのある朱色の線文様が現れます。施釉も絵付もなく、土と火のみで生まれる景色は、まさに備前焼の真骨頂。手に収まりの良い端正なフォルムは、酒を静かに味わうひとときに寄り添います。

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🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ]
• Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days
• Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking)
• Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials

*Where straw once held the clay, only the trace of fire remains — an invitation to hold what the kiln has authored.*