Bowl with Design of Figs and Leaves, ca. 1990
Ito Motohiko (born 1939)
Japanese
Stoneware with cloth-impressed surface, underglaze painted decoration, and ash glaze
Founders Society Purchase, with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Stanford C. Stoddard
1994.27

Ito Motohiko is an artist specializing in tableware decorated with powerful, evocative distillations of natural beauty. This contemporary bowl continues the traditions of the Rimpa style, named after the famous Edo period artist Ogata Korin. Its shape echoes that of Korin's favored round-fan format, which had a profound influence on the circular ceramic compositions by Korin's younger brother, Ogata Kenzan. The principle of using a selected vignette from nature in a carefully orchestrated space is seen in all their work.