A JAPANESE TEABOWL BY KATO TOZABURO XXXI

KATO TŌZABURO XXXI (B.1948)
SHŌWA OR LATER, 20TH OR 21ST CENTURY

A Japanese chawan (teabowl), the conical body covered with a thick white tenmoku glaze with bluish streaks stopping short of the foot, the base with two impressed marks, one for Tō and the other, a wisteria leaf mon (the Kato family crest); with a fitted tomobako (wood box) inscribed Shiro tenmoku, chawan, sanjū-issei Tōzaburō (White tenmoku teabowl, 31st generation Tōzaburō) and with a red seal for Kato, 13cm. (2)

Provenance: from an English private collection, Wiltshire.

Kato Tozaburo XXXI belongs to a distinguished lineage of potters, claiming to trace its roots back to the first-generation master, Kato Shirozaemon Kagemasa (1168–1249). Since beginning his career in the 1970s, he has earned numerous accolades for his craftsmanship. In 1991, he formally inherited both the family kiln and the prestigious title of the 31st Kato Tōzaburo.