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Yuteki tenmoku tea bowl by Yoshio Endo, ca 1980

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    Posted 3 years ago

    kwqd
    (1189 items)

    This yuteki (oil spot) tenmoku glazed tea bowl is 4.7" in diameter x 2.2" high and is marked on the bottom with the mark of the artist, Yoshio Endo. The bowl (chawan) came with the original, signed tomobako (wooden box), ribbon (Kumihimo) and turmeric cloth (ukon-fu). The tomobako is high end as it is signed on the inside of the lid and has four rails which makes an air tight seal.

    A brief biography of the artist is also included on a small piece of paper. This is the only information I found about what appears to have been the start of a promising career as a studio potter:

    1944 Born
    1974 Start working at Misiro kiln
    1977 Start working at his own kiln (Independence)
    1978 Prized at Traditional Handcraft New Work Exhibition
    1979 Prized at Traditional Handcraft New Work Exhibition

    Unfortunately, as far as I can determine this Yoshio Endo was abducted by aliens shortly after 1979. Yoshio Endo is also not an unusual name in Japan. I quickly found several other men with the same name. I have also posted a meoto yunomi pair by this potter in my collection which I have never gotten around to posting better images of:

    https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/287166-yuteki-tenmoku-glaze-meoto-yunomi-set-by

    Given the skill level of this artist by 1979, I would expect to at minimum find earlier works by him. I have found numerous examples of his work but nothing dated after 1980. He may have died around then. In time, more of his work may surface. Given the apparent difficulty of creating the glazes he used and the supposedly small circle of Japanese artists who use it, even forty years later, it seems logical to guess that he must have enjoyed some level of notoriety when he was active. I have found, however, that artists in all mediums are often quickly forgotten once they become inactive.

    Yuteki Tenmoku is actually a Chinese glaze dating back hundreds of years and much admired by the Japanese but not reproduced by them until fairly recently. Only a very few Japanese artists attempt to recreate this glaze and have been exporting this technique back to China where it was lost:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenmoku
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chawan

    I plan to try to contact Japanese artists who are currently reproducing this glaze to see if any of them know what happened to Yoshio Endo since such a small circle of artists use it.

    I could not pass this bowl up due to the documentation it included and how well it complements my meoto yunomi.

    Update:

    This is the latest dated example of a bio sheet I found that came with a piece of this artist's pottery. I found several examples of it:

    ceramic history
    Endo Yoshio
    799 Maesawa, Mashiko-machi, Haga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture TEL 02857 (4) 0818
    1944 Born in Hanyu City, Saitama Prefecture
    1974 Enter Mishiro Kiln
    Independence in 1977
    1978 Selected for the New Traditional Crafts Exhibition
    1980 Selected for the New Traditional Crafts Exhibition

    One of the very similar biographies also says "1973 Studied at Sanjo Kiln". Endo made other finishes besides tenmoku and I found several leaf themed pieces by him.

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    Comments

    1. Newfld Newfld, 3 years ago
      Gorgeous tea bowl, the pattern reminds me of a snowy night
    2. jscott0363 jscott0363, 3 years ago
      Nice tea bowl and great photography as well!!!
    3. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks, Jenn! That is a great description!

      Thanks jscott0363! It is larger than I expected it to be.

      Thanks for loving my tea bowl fortapache, Vynil33rpm, jscott0363, Alfie21, Jenni, GianaMZ, dav2no1 and Kevin!
    4. PhilDMorris PhilDMorris, 3 years ago
      The finish is so beautifully done !~
    5. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks PhilDMorris! I think this artist was pretty accomplished. I hope to find out more about him and his work.

      Thanks for loving my tea bowl PhilDMorris and fortapache!
    6. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thank you SEAN68!
    7. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks vcal!
    8. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thank you blunderbuss2!
    9. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks for loving my tea bowl valentino97!
    10. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks aura!
    11. rhineisfine rhineisfine, 3 years ago
      Wow, how did I miss this? It's an absolutely stunning tea bowl!

      I really wish Collectors Weekly could manage kanji characters. I had a go at identifying the kanji for ENDOU Yoshio, and I think I have found some more of his bowls online.

      The first one is a Chinese-language webpage:
      https://sanbaotea1978.pixnet.net/blog/post/132283796-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%82%B3%E7%B5%B1%E5%B7%A5%E8%97%9D%E5%A3%AB-%E7%9B%8A%E5%AD%90%E7%84%BC%E5%90%8D%E5%AE%B6-%E9%81%A0%E8%97%A4%E5%96%9C%E7%94%B7-%E6%B2%B9%E6%BB%B4%E5%A4%A9

      And another one here, in Japanese:
      https://jp.mercari.com/item/m40726944728
      (35,900 Japanese Yen = abt $300 US)

      You probably know all this already, but in case not, it does indeed look like he specialize(d?s?) in tenmoku glazes, which is hardly surprising considering the quality of this work.

      Here's the Google Search for his name, in case you'd like to look through the search results (it's super-long because any search involving kanji is converted into the standard Western set of letters/numbers/special characters). With luck, maybe you'll find something that gives you more info on his post-1979 activities.

      https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E9%81%A0%E8%97%A4%E5%96%9C%E7%94%B7%22&rlz=1C1GGRV_enCA751CA751&sxsrf=APq-WBvh3rFA0VBooAGRJljilO9TE2HrlA%3A1646872351061&ei=H0cpYpKtA_zP0PEPr_u2yAU&ved=0ahUKEwjSuObLpbr2AhX8JzQIHa-9DVkQ4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=%22%E9%81%A0%E8%97%A4%E5%96%9C%E7%94%B7%22&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQAFj2FGC6GGgAcAB4AYABRIgBtAKSAQE1mAEAoAEBoAECwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz

    12. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      Thanks rhineisfine! Both links are definitely to bowls by him. Thanks for the help!
    13. kwqd kwqd, 3 years ago
      I found several more tenmoku cups and bowls by him and two other cups that are not tenmoku which show his other work was just as good. Several of the pieces include documentation which I will save when I get access my desktop computer.

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