Inside Japanese Ceramics: Primer Of Materials, Techniques And Traditions - Hardcover

Wilson, Richard L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0834803461 ISBN 13: 9780834803466

Publisher: Weatherhill, 1995

Synopsis

This practical and supremely useful manual is the first comprehensive, hands-on introduction to Japanese ceramics. The Japanese ceramics tradition is without compare in its technical and stylistic diversity, its expressive content, and the level of appreciation it enjoys, both in Japan and around the world. Inside Japanese Ceramics focuses on tools, materials, and procedures, and how all of these have influenced the way traditional Japanese ceramics look and feel. A true primer, it concentrates on the basics: setting up a workshop, pot-forming techniques, decoration, glazes, and kilns and firing. It introduces the major methods and styles that are taught in most Japanese workshops, including several representative and well-known wares: Bizen, Mino, Karatsu, Hagi, and Kyoto.

While presenting the time-tested techniques of the tradition, author Richard L. Wilson also accommodates modern technologies and materials as appropriate. Wilson has gathered a wealth of information on two fronts—as a researcher of Japanese pottery and art history, and as a potter who has studied and worked for years with master Japanese potters. In his introduction, he provides a short history of Japanese ceramics, and in closing he looks beyond traditional methods toward ways in which Western potters can make Japanese methods their own. Richly illustrated with 24 color plates, over 100 black-and-white photographs, and over 70 instructive line-drawings, Inside Japanese Ceramics is indispensable for potters as well as connoisseurs and collectors of Japanese ceramics. Above all, it is an invitation to participate—to study, make, touch, and use the exquisite products of the Japanese ceramic tradition.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard L. Wilson is a professor of Art History at Rice University and a leading authority on Japanese ceramics history and technique, as well as an active potter. He has published widely in both English and Japanese, including The Art of Ogata Kenzan, and is currently working on a history of Japanese ceramics.

Review:

Art students will appreciate this first hands-on introduction to Japanese ceramics traditions and production. This presents the basics, from setting up a workshop and forming pots to understanding both the techniques of and philosophy behind modern Japanese ceramics approaches. Plenty of step-by-step black and white photos do a fine job of imparting techniques. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Weatherhill
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0834803461
• ISBN 13: 9780834803466
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 190