Shoji Hamada (1894-1978, Japan) 

Faceted Vessel HS13
1961
Stoneware; ht. 10 in.

This work by Shoji Hamada, sturdy, architectonic, with its beautifully textured glazing and vigorous painting connects to a little known part of ceramic history in America, what might be termed the "Bonnier's Period." Bonnier's was a small department store in New York in the 1950s and 1960s, a satellite of the large Stockholm parent. Known as the "temple to modernism," it specialized in modern design. In 1960 David Outerbridge and his wife, Lilias (stepdaughter of Goran Holmquist, the CEO of Bonnier's in New York), spent a few months in the Stockholm store learning the retail trade. As Lilias recounts, "While cleaning out a closet there, he came across a Japanese pot, a blue pitcher in a traditional wooden box. He bought it. In the fall we returned to NYC and David began work at Bonnier's. The blue pitcher from Sweden turned out to be a Hamada Shoji, and, after some research, David persuaded my stepfather to have a major show of Hamada together with Bernard Leach, Hamada's first show in the USA. Unfortunately neither David nor Goran knew the importance of the Japanese boxes. As shipping the boxes was an additional expense, they left them in Japan. The Hamada show was held in 1961 or '62, and was very successful. Of course there were many pots that did not sell [including this pot]. Rather than sending these back to Japan, Goran and David divided them between them, and thus David and I became the owners of many Hamada pots. Over the years David added other pots to the collection."

David left Bonnier's and in the early seventies, received a grant from the BBC to make a documentary on Bernard Leach and Hamada Shoji. The Art of the Potter, in the film collection at MOMA, aired on PBS, CBC and BBC, and, in 1973 the film won first prize for best documentary at The American Film Festival. Bonnier's did not only show Leach and Hamada, but also gave Americans their first view of Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. Bonnier's also gave Peter Voulkos a solo exhibition in 1957.

Exhibited: Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach, Bonniers New York, 1961-62.

References: Outerbridge, Lilias and van der Ven, Simon. Outerbridge Ceramics Collection. San Francisco and London: Blurb.com, 2011. This work is illustrated on page 16.

Excellent original condition.