Born January 28, 1929, Matuei Kimiko first began making containers in 1973. She was self taught in the beginning of her career, and her early work is primarily pinch pots and sharply contrasts with the higher refinement of later work. This step up into more refined pieces came under the tutelage of a later teacher: the esteemed Hayashi Toujaku.
Her work is said to have a distinctly feminine feel to it, and is pretty stylistically varied. Mostly she is known for her pattern relief and carved pots, although she made many glazed and unglazed pieces as well. Her pieces are extraordinarily rare, as pottery dealer and collector Matt Ouwinga remarked to me recently that they were “as rare as hen’s teeth.” Despite the rarity of her works, she is one of the most influential female bonsai potters of the 20th century.
I’m going to keep this one brief and just post a gallery, as I haven’t been able to put together a more detailed post over the last couple of weeks due to illness(I couldn’t post at all last week). Anyway, Enjoy!

Hope you’ve enjoyed this gallery of bonsai pots by Matuei Kimiko. Thanks for reading!