The following wonderful Heian Tofukuji pot was acquired by my friend and fellow collector Matt Ouwinga through Peter Warren at this years Kokufu-Ten exhibition. The pot itself is wonderful, rustic and large, clearly hand formed with great clay. I love the simple line texturing(a Naokata homage, see the post “A Very Special Pot” for more information). The patina is marvelous as well, clearly visible on the rim, and i really like the bottom texturing from the drying cloth. At 14″ by 10.5″ by 2.75″, Tofukuji pots of this size are very rare…and consequently, very pricey!

One of the things about this pot that really stands out is the writing on the bottom. This is a numerical catalog code indicating that the pot is formerly of the Takagi collection, now the Takagi museum. Reiji Takagi was a famous collector of both pots and bonsai, as well as other Asian fine art, and his large collection is now a museum in downtown Tokyo, where hundreds of masterpiece bonsai can be viewed on the rooftop garden, while the pottery collection is housed on a lower floor. A nice piece of history to go along with a wonderful pot.