A Kutani-ware matcha bowl by Mori Kazumasa, decorated in overglaze enamels with red plum blossoms and young pine — two of Japan's most celebrated motifs for welcoming the new year and the first breath of spring.
🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ] • Artist: Mori Kazumasa • Origin: Kutani, Ishikawa, Japan • Material: Kutani ware with overglaze enamels • Motif: Red Plum and Young Pine (Kobai / Wakamatsu) • Era: 2000_2024 • Box: Tomobako (artist's wooden presentation box) • Condition: Good, carefully inspected
🔹 [ Cultural & Artistic Insight ] The off-white hakeme-style ground is scattered with fine iron-clay specks, giving the surface a quiet, natural texture that recalls early-spring soil before the thaw. Against this restrained ground, the artist's brushwork moves with confidence: red and orange plum flowers open across slender grey branches, each blossom accented with small yellow dots marking the stamens; sweeping strokes of deep green and yellow-green evoke pine needles bending under their own vitality.
The composition wraps around the entire bowl, shifting in rhythm as the eye travels — dense clusters giving way to single scattered buds, breath between blossoms. This is not decoration applied to a surface. It is a seasonal landscape inhabiting the form.
The footring is low and stable, the rim gently flared. The bowl sits comfortably in both hands, the weight settled and unhurried.
🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ] Signed on the base with a red seal. Comes in the artist's original signed paulownia wood tomobako, with "Kutani / Kazumasa" written in the artist's own hand on the lid.
[ CONDITION ] Excellent — no chips, cracks, or significant wear. Minor natural speckling inherent to the clay body.
[ DIMENSIONS ] Diameter: approx. 12.7 cm (5.0 in) Height: approx. 7.3 cm (2.9 in)
[ PROVENANCE ] Acquired in Japan. Comes with original signed tomobako (artist's wooden presentation box).
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
