Ceramic vase from the Shiroi Hensubō series by Yagi Kazuo

This light ceramic vase, hand-shaped by Japanese ceramist Yagi Kazuo, belongs to a series known as shiroi hensubō . Its irregular shape, narrower on some sides and wider on others, offers highly contrasting profiles depending on the viewing angle. The volume was entirely modeled without using a wheel, in a non-symmetrical logic, characteristic of this series. The light clay used contains fine dark inclusions visible on the surface. This, left bare, has a marked grain and a granular texture, which catch the light in an irregular manner. The whole expresses a direct relationship between gesture, material and volume.

This piece belongs to a series known as shiroi hensubō, an expression that could be translated as "deformed white vase," which Yagi Kazuo developed in the 1970s based on research into raw materials and organic forms. Manual modeling, without the use of a wheel, accentuates the sculptural aspect of the object, which seeks neither symmetry nor uniformity. The interior is smoothed, while the exterior seems to have been deliberately left irregular, revealing the roughness of the bare clay.

Yagi Kazuo (1918–1979) is one of the major figures in contemporary Japanese ceramics. Founder of the Sōdeisha movement in 1948 alongside Kumakura Junkichi and Yamada Hikaru, he marked a decisive break with the functional tradition of the arts of fire in Japan. From his earliest works, he rejected the conventions of throwing, refused the utilitarian, and sought to give ceramics an autonomous status within the field of modern art. His pieces, often abstract, borrow from the plant, mineral, or anatomical worlds in new forms, oscillating between sculpture and intimate architecture. Represented in the greatest museums in Japan and abroad, his works are part of the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Musée national de céramique de Sèvres. He is considered one of the pioneers of avant-garde ceramics of the 20th century. The Sōdeisha movement that he founded, and of which he remains the most influential figure, profoundly renewed the perception of ceramics, affirming the freedom of form and experimentation with materials. A detailed article on our site traces the aesthetic issues of this essential movement, which can be found via this link .

This vase, which dates from the 1970s, is signed (engraved) under its base. It is presented in its signed wooden box (tomobako), calligraphed with the name of the series (shiroi hensubō -白い扁壷) and the artist, accompanied by his red seal (the box shows some signs of wear). All of this guarantees the authenticity of the work.