Shōdai Ware Water Jar by Chikashige Jitaro — Tenmoku and Ash Glaze, Black Lacquer Lid

A shōdai-yaki water jar (mizusashi) by Chikashige Jitaro of the Kengunkama kiln — the stoneware body carrying a landscape of amber tenmoku and pale ash glaze across its wide, grounded form, crowned by a mirror-black lacquer lid whose surface holds the room in reflection. Two materials from opposite ends of the craft spectrum — fired earth and cultivated lacquer — placed in one object. Comes in original signed wooden box.

🔹 [ BASIC DETAILS ]
• Artist: Chikashige Jitaro (近重治太郎), Kengunkama kiln (健軍窯)
• Ware: Shōdai-yaki (小岱焼), Kumamoto tradition
• Technique: Wheel-thrown stoneware, natural ash glaze and tenmoku glaze, black lacquer lid
• Era: Contemporary
• Origin: Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
• Dimensions: Diameter approx. 17.3 cm
• Box: Original signed wooden box (共箱)
• Condition: Good; lacquer lid in excellent condition with fine mirror surface

🔹 [ CULTURAL & ARTISTIC INSIGHT ]
Shōdai-yaki is one of the seven noted kilns of Kyushu — the ceramic-rich island whose traditions include Karatsu, Arita, Agano, and Satsuma wares. Established in the early Edo period under the patronage of the Hosokawa clan at Kumamoto, Shōdai ware is characterized by its deliberate visual drama: glazes applied with apparent spontaneity that produces volcanic color variations across amber, brown, and green-grey. The Kengunkama (健軍窯), located in the Kengun district of Kumamoto, continues this tradition today. The black lacquer lid on this piece is not an afterthought but a compositional act: urushi lacquer's deep, light-absorbing blackness against the amber and ash stoneware body creates a dialogue of earth and darkness that is deeply traditional in Japanese aesthetics — the same contrast present in raku chawan with lacquer tomobako boxes, here translated into the object itself.

🔹 [ DEEP-DIVE COMMENTARY ]
Chikashige Jitaro's mizusashi carries the visual density that distinguishes quality Shōdai work from its contemporaries. The stoneware body has been generously glazed with what appears to be an overlapping application of two materials: a warm amber-brown tenmoku-style glaze covers the lower and mid-body, while a cooler ash-green glaze runs from the shoulder downward in thick drips, the two meeting and bleeding into each other in a zone of rich color negotiation. This is not accidental — it represents careful kiln-placement and glaze application technique where the Shōdai tradition's characteristic "yōhen" (transformation in the kiln) is deliberately cultivated.

The form is wide and low, with a generous rim that accepts the lacquer lid with a precise fit. The foot is solid and substantial, and the interior of the body shows the smooth, well-prepared surface appropriate for a tea ceremony water jar.

The lacquer lid warrants its own attention: its surface is deep mirror-black, polished to a reflective finish with a small ring-shaped knob. The contrast between this surface — pristine, cultivated, made by a completely different craft tradition — and the volcanic, kiln-animated stoneware below it is the central statement of this piece.

The signed wooden box confirms the work's authenticity and provides the artist's name in brushwork. For collectors interested in Kyushu ceramic traditions outside the most well-known names, Shōdai ware offers genuine artistic depth with relative accessibility.

[ JAPANESE DESCRIPTION / 日本語解説 ]
小岱焼水指。健軍窯・近重治太郎造。飴釉と灰釉の景色が美しく交わる胴体に、漆塗りの黒蓋が対照的な静けさをもたらす。共箱入り。

🔹 【基本情報】
• 作者：近重治太郎（健軍窯）
• 産地：小岱焼（熊本県）
• 技法：轆轤成形、飴釉・灰釉、黒漆蓋
• 寸法：直径約17.3cm
• 箱：共箱
• 状態：良好。漆蓋は鏡面仕上げで美しい状態を保つ

🔹 【文化的背景】
小岱焼は九州七窯の一つとして江戸初期に細川藩の保護のもと熊本に開かれた。飴色や青灰色の景色が特徴的な豪快な釉薬表現が魅力。健軍窯はその伝統を現代に継承する窯元。黒漆の蓋は焼締の土物と漆塗りという、日本の二大素材工芸の対話として鑑賞できる。

🔹 【コレクター向け解説】
近重治太郎の水指は、胴部に飴釉と灰釉が交わる重厚な景色を持ち、品のある黒漆蓋との対比が際立つ。共箱の自筆書き込みで来歴明確。九州陶芸の豊かな伝統に触れるコレクターにとって価値ある一点。

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