Examples of Objects on Display

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  "Laughing mouth" vase with streaming water decoration

  Yanagihara Mutsuo (1934–)
  1986
  Glazed stoneware
  Height 51.5 cm, width 46.8×26.8 cm
  Private collection
  Photograph by MUGYUDA Hyogo

  The mouth has a full, sensual lip that droops at the front as if the vase is laughing. The vase stands on a foot that retains the form which the artist calls the “shoe shape”: the front section projects toward the viewer like the form of a shoe. The center of the foot is raised as if acting in unison with the mouth, embodying the sensuality that is often described by art critics. The pattern of streaming water in vividly contrasting colors of blue and yellow, accompanied by a gradation of dark blue reminiscent of the bottom of the sea emphasizes the sense of depth and the three-dimensional feeling of this intricate sculptural form.

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  "Yellow Oribe"-style "flower eater" vase with a laughing mouth

  Yanagihara Mutsuo (1934–)
  1992
  Glazed stoneware
  Height 86.0 cm, width 35.0×43.0 cm
  The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of Mr. SUGITA Kazuya)
  Accession No. 05440
  Photograph by MUGYUDA Hyogo

  This shimokabura or turnip-bottom vase with a slender leg has a completely covered top. The mouth is created on the side, which is slightly elongated toward the base. The vase’s humorous name kashoku or ‘flower eater,’ which has been coined by Yanagihara himself, makes the viewers imagine the vase “eating the flowers,” a totally opposite role of a conventional vase traditionally called hanaike, which literally means “bring the flowers to life” or “enlivening the flowers.” The term “Oribe” often found in the names of Yanagihara’s works from the latter half of the 1980s onward has been used after Oribe ware, which is known for its liberal, unfettered patterns. The term also expresses the artist’s tribute to the works by Furuta Oribe, who pioneered his original style of pottery that resonated with the artist’s keen interest on combining decoration with form.

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  "Yellow Oribe"-style retroflex vase

  Yanagihara Mutsuo (1934–)
  1995
  Glazed stoneware
  Height 64.0 cm, width 46.0×26.0 cm
  The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of Mr. OMORI Keigo [Museum Richo])
  Accession No. 05552
  Photograph by MUGYUDA Hyogo

  The striking yellow color reminiscent of “poster color” paint and the jet-black color produce a clear pattern in a yin-yang manner, as if dismissing the emotional atmosphere which is a characteristic of Japanese pottery. After painting the surface, the vase was covered with a transparent glaze and fired at a high temperature. The artist used masking tape in order to produce clear boundary lines and evenly apply each pigment. The upper section, which delivers a sense of weight, seems like floating in the air supported by the bent leg, producing a sense of vibrancy and dynamism. It can be said that this is a leading work among the artist’s “yellow Oribe” series.

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  Vase in Jomon style blended with a Yayoi taste

  Yanagihara Mutsuo (1934–)
  2002
  Glazed stoneware
  Height 52.0 cm, width 50.0×41.0 cm
  The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of Mr. SUGIYAMA Michio)
  Accession No. 05629
  Photograph by MUGYUDA Hyogo

  The silver-color decoration which Yanagihara used in the 1970s is characterized by the mirror-like gloss. However, the “silver Oribe” works which the artist began to produce from around the end of the 1990s have a distinctive “scoured silver” surface, which loosely connects the sober-toned silver and black colors as well as their boundaries. The artist’s aim to smoothly combine the decorativeness of Jomon earthenware with the simplicity of Yayoi earthenware is manifested in the title of this work. The generously everted mouth rim and the spiral pattern meticulously applied all over the body, including the interior, draw the eyes of the viewers to the inside of the vase.