Experience Authentic Tenmoku Ceramic Art with this Fujii Shigeo Guinomi. This Ogon Tenmoku creation serves as a Golden Crystalline Glaze vessel and Tenmoku Sake Cup, featuring Black Gold Ceramics and Iridescent Drip Glaze — a mesmerizing Japanese Sake Cup for any Tenmoku Pottery collector seeking Crystal Tenmoku Guinomi character with a Signed Tomobako Box.
🔹 [ Basic Details ] • Artist: Fujii Shigeo (藤井茂男) • Technique: Ogon Tenmoku (黄金天目) — golden tenmoku crystalline glaze • Era: Contemporary (2010–2019) • Origin: Japan • Dimensions: Height approx. 5.3 cm, Rim diameter approx. 5.7 cm, Foot diameter approx. 4.1 cm • Box: Signed tomobako with green-gold cord • Accessories: Cloth (共布) and pamphlet (栞) • Condition: Excellent — crystalline effects vivid and complete
🔹 [ Cultural & Artistic Insight ] Ogon Tenmoku — golden tenmoku — is among the most technically demanding glazes in ceramics. Fujii Shigeo coaxed iron-rich glaze to crystallize into a surface that shifts between deep black, molten gold, and silver-blue iridescence. The upper half drowns in this volcanic darkness. The lower half is left unglazed — raw sandy clay that grounds the cosmic drama above.
The boundary where glaze meets clay is a precipice: blue-white drips freeze in mid-fall, creating a topography that no brush could produce. This is chemistry performing as art, and the artist's role is to create the conditions and step back.
"Gold does not decorate this cup — it erupts from within the black, uninvited and uncontrolled."
🔹 [ Deep-Dive Commentary ] Tenmoku glaze originated in China's Jian kilns during the Song Dynasty, where tea masters prized the dark bowls for the way they contrasted with the frothy green tea. Ogon (golden) tenmoku pushes this tradition toward its extreme: the iron in the glaze is forced to crystallize during cooling, creating metallic gold surfaces that shift with viewing angle.
The technique requires precise control of kiln temperature and cooling rate. Too fast, and no crystals form — the glaze remains uniformly dark. Too slow, and the crystals grow too large, losing their luminous quality. Fujii's mastery lies in finding the narrow window where gold emerges from black.
The iridescent blue-silver drips along the glaze line result from reduction atmosphere effects on the thinnest glaze edges. This is the phenomenon that makes each ogon tenmoku piece unrepeatable — the same kiln, the same glaze, the same clay will produce different results every firing.
🔹 [ SHIPPING & PACKAGING ] • Dispatch: Within 1-6 business days • Carrier: Japan Post EMS / UPS (with tracking) • Packaging: Carefully wrapped with protective materials
