SERIZAWA (Keisuke).
Tohoku kama meguri [Touring the Tohoku Kilns]
Northern kilns seen through Serizawa's artistic eye
Serizawa’s trip to regional kilns in the Tohoku (northern) region of Japan, expressed through ceramic designs.
In the Mingei ecosystem, there was a harmonious dialogue between different craftspeople. Serizawa himself was most known for katazome (stencil-dyed) textiles, for which he was awarded Living National Treasure status. He also pioneered the application of the same technique to paper, and produced several katazome printed books. These were on various subjects, but most often about local craft traditions across Japan. A close friend of the potter Shoji Hamada, Serizawa was exposed to different kilns and types of Japanese pottery and became very knowledgable on the subject.
The present book illustrates different kilns in the north of Japan, but formatted to look like designs for ceramic plates. The first edition of this title was printed in an edition of 15 copies in 1943. The following year, Serizawa printed an additional 5 copies, of which the present copy is one.
From the same stencils, Serizawa had also printed loose prints of this series which were turned into a folding screen (Tohoku Fukushi University Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum collection).
Extremely rare. No copies in OCLC.
