pot signature

Bonjour,

I bought this pot in the Saburo Kato nursery in 2010 and i would like to know who is the potter. As you see on the photo, the signature is very worn. Thanks for your help.

Gilles

Hi Gilles.

This pot is by Shuhou, the chop (a stamp, not a signature) actually reads "Yoshimura zoen". My old catalog shows this chop and 2 signatures, one reads "Shuhou-zo" and the other "Yoshimura Shuhou saku".

Nice pot!

Russell

Indeed Russell. Katoaka Shuho has had more names than old dirty bastard! He changes names and stamps and signatures every decade or so. Originally, he was of the Yoshimura kiln, son of Katoaka Hidemi, founder of the kiln. While technically his pots are still from the Yoshimura kiln, his trade name is now "Shuho" rather than "Yoshimura". That(and the fact that He rarely if ever stamps pots anymore, all signed) mean this is earlier work, pre-1970 or so(I cannot recall the year he changed to Shuho, 1960-something, so I'm playing safe). As such it is much more valuable than your average Shuho....it has this story, this history. An art broker buddy told me yesterday that the poem in the frame and the fact that it came directly from Munch were worth 35 million of "The Scream"s hefty tag...it's not just the patina, not just the name, but the story of the pot aligned with a tree that makes the old pots so much better for the old trees, in my novice opinion. Nice pot and tree and combo, and nice pot Gilles.
Ryan
http://japanesebonsaipots.net/

Russell, Ryan, thank you very much for your answers, I'll try to find a tree with a true story to make a good "marriage".

Gilles