No. 5

Hollow form with elongated smooth body swelling downward from ridged spine which rises to a peak, swooping downward in one direction to a second point in which opens a minuscule mouth; rounding downward in the opposite direction; resting on two small, pointed feet at the extreme ends of this primary form together with a third foot beneath a rounded lobe projecting from one side of the body beneath the peak. Hand formed from single thin, hand-formed slab of clay.

Blend of Shigaraki stoneware clay and Fushimi red clay, entirely concealed by glaze.

Thin slip (90% iron-bearing clay) fired to 1230 degrees in strong reduction, becoming dark blue-gray; the surface is densely wrinkled and bears numerous scattered shiny specks of crystallization. The tips of the feet and one small rectangular area on the underside are shiny and smooth.

Maker(s)
Artist: Takiguchi Kazuo 滝口和男 (Japan, born 1953)
Historical period(s)
Heisei era, 1996
Medium
Stoneware with dark gray matte textured glaze
Dimensions
H x W x D: 22.6 x 41.7 x 27 cm (8 7/8 x 16 7/16 x 10 5/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Kyoto
Credit Line
Purchase -- funds provided by John and Marinka Bennett
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1997.33
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Sculpture
Type

Sculpture

Keywords
Heisei era (1989 - present), Japan, stoneware
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Hollow form with elongated smooth body swelling downward from ridged spine which rises to a peak, swooping downward in one direction to a second point in which opens a minuscule mouth; rounding downward in the opposite direction; resting on two small, pointed feet at the extreme ends of this primary form together with a third foot beneath a rounded lobe projecting from one side of the body beneath the peak. Hand formed from single thin, hand-formed slab of clay.

Blend of Shigaraki stoneware clay and Fushimi red clay, entirely concealed by glaze.

Thin slip (90% iron-bearing clay) fired to 1230 degrees in strong reduction, becoming dark blue-gray; the surface is densely wrinkled and bears numerous scattered shiny specks of crystallization. The tips of the feet and one small rectangular area on the underside are shiny and smooth.

Inscription(s)

1. (Louise A. Cort, 13 October 1997) Unsigned.

Label

Kyoto artist Takiguchi tailors his sculptures from single sheets of clay that he "wraps around air," smoothing away all traces of fabrication. Although the organic forms, stretching and extending, coated with wrinkled glaze, are evocative of human or animal bodies, Takiguchi resolutely refuses to title his works. He usually develops his exhibitions as installations, creating evocative relationships among the forms in settings ranging from gardens to warehouses. No. 5, fifth in a series made for Takiguchi's first exhibition in the United States, debuted in a church in lower Manhattan.

Published References
  • Takiguchi Kazuo. Exh. cat. Kyoto. .
  • Takiguchi Kazuo ten. Exh. cat. Tokyo. .
  • Louise Allison Cort. Twentieth-century Asian Crafts in the Sackler Gallery. vol. XLIII no. 3. p. 19, fig. 2.
  • The Now in Japanese Ceramics -- Messages from Artists in Kyoto: A Drama of Space Enacted by Ten Clay Artists. Exh. cat. Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Kyoto. pp. 34-39.
  • Dr. Frederick Baekeland, Robert Moes. Modern Japanese Ceramics in American Collections. Exh. cat. New York and Münsterschwarzach, Germany, December 1993 - August 1994. p. 54, figs. 2, 58, 66.
  • Thomas Lawton, Thomas W. Lentz. Beyond the Legacy: Anniversary Acquisitions for the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. vol. 1 Washington, 1998. pp. 344-345.
Collection Area(s)
Contemporary Art, Japanese Art
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