Untitled (Small Moon Pot)

Artist Toshiko Takaezu (American, 1922-2011)

Datemid 20th-early 21st Century

DimensionsH: 13 in.

MediumStoneware with glazes

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of Toshiko Takaezu

Object number

2006.174A

Not on View

Label Text"The clay is alive and responsive to every touch and feeling. When I make it into a form, it is still alive, and even when it is dry, it is still breathing! … The whole process is an interplay between the clay and myself, and often the clay has much to say." One of the most acclaimed American ceramicists of the 20th century, Toshiko Takaezu was born in Hawaii to Japanese immigrant parents. After studying ceramics at the University of Hawaii and the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, she spent eight months in Japan studying Buddhism and traditional Japanese ceramics, particularly folk wares and tea wares (like those displayed in the case nearby). She recalled, “After my return from [Japan], I tried to incorporate and synthesize the subtle Eastern tradition with a more personal expression of our world here in the [West].” The Japanese aesthetic manifested in her embrace of imperfections and unintended effects in both her method of forming the clay and her technique of splashing and pouring glazes; while her development of closed, large-scale forms—divorced from any functionality—reflects American attitudes toward ceramics as a sculptural art form.