Tanso-gama is one of the oldest potteries in Tanba, and has been producing pottery for generations since the Edo period.
Ms. Shigeko Ichihara, the owner of the kiln, creates slipware, a technique in which patterns are drawn on the surface of the vessel by dripping and scratching slime-like potting soil from a dropper. He is one of the few Japanese who learned the technique directly from Mr. Bernard Leach, an Englishman who is said to have popularized slipware.
When Mr. Leach visited Tanba, he used to stay at the Tanmou kiln, and the relationship began with Mr. Tanmado, the 6th generation, two generations before his predecessor. After several years of training at Mr. Leach's pottery studio in St Ives, he acquired the authentic technique, and at that time Shigeko also went to England and learned the technique directly from Mr. Leach for about 10 months.
After the death of her husband, Shigeko took over the kiln as the 8th generation owner, and continues to carefully make each piece of slipware that has been handed down to blend into her daily life.
Slipware originated in England, where slip is applied to half-dried base material, and patterns such as pectinates and lattices are drawn on it.
It was Bernard Leach, a British potter who led the Mingei movement in Japan along with Soetsu Yanagi, who brought this type of pottery, which had been discontinued in his home country, to Tanso kilns in Japan.
In 1967, Leach visited the Tanso kiln, which was a member of the Mingei Kyokai in support of the movement, and a turning point came to the kiln.
At the invitation of Leach, Mr. Shigeko's husband, Shigeru Ichino, the 7th generation, went to England. I learned first-hand the slipwear that Leach was focusing on reprinting. When Mr. Mora passed away and decided to take over the business, Mr. Shigeko decided to make slipware rather than making a wide range of pottery using various techniques.
When Shigeko took over as the eighth generation, slipware for daily use, such as tea bowls and small plates, which had not been seen in Tanmō kiln before, began to appear.
In England, large plates that could be put in an oven were the main type of pottery, but Shigeko dared to create small pottery such as tea bowls and small plates.
In Tanba, there were many glazes of calm colors such as white, black, and ash glaze, so the slipping of the glaze made it possible to create a pattern, and it became attractive, and the popularity spread at once. I was.
While inheriting the genealogy of Tamba, he continues to make small, small slipware that can only be found in Japan, authentically made in England, with his daughter.
At Northern Morning Store, we plan to sell plates of various shapes around 5 cm, centering on our favorite slipware.