KOHYAMA YASUHISA (1936-) A Sculptural Stoneware Vase Heisei era (1989-2019), 1998Important works of art from an American private collectionKOHYAMA YASUHISA (1936-)A Sculptural Stoneware Vase Heisei era (1989-2019), 1998The Shigaraki stoneware coil-built and wire-cut unglazed rectilinear body with a prominent raised fold to the front and a raised rectangular mouth, the clay with numerous inclusions of feldspar and other minerals, fired to range of orange-brown and ash-gray colors, the base with an incised artist's mark 20 1/4 x 9 x 6 3/4in (51.5 x 23 x 17cm)Based in Shigaraki, an ancient center of stoneware production, Kohyama Yasuhisa has built on his studies of early Japanese wares to create sculptural ceramics with a modern sensibility. A favorite with American and European collectors, he fires his works initially for about a week at a high temperature to produce the orange-brown tones associated with Shigaraki, then often fires them one or two more times to obtain an austere, grayish surface also seen in Sueki, a stoneware made from the fifth century.