Munenori

Covered from handle to spout in exquisite carvings, the teapots of Munenori – a master carver and shining example of the Tokoname tradition – are truly a sight to behold. The artist both creates his designs from whole cloth, and throws and shapes all of his own pieces.

Munenori was born in 1954 in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, into the artistic tradition that is the city’s claim to fame. His father began his career throwing vases and ceramic stoves for a living. His mother, meanwhile, painted traditional Japanese dolls. The couple transitioned to painting lucky cat figurines after marriage, as work in their chosen fields had begun to run dry.

Munenori initially showed little interest in pottery, though his high school – an ordinary city school – offered a ceramics program. Yet just as soon as he had entered school, the red-brown pottery characteristic of the Tokoname tradition came back into vogue. Munenori’s father resumed his pottery practice, and began making ceramic figurines, carved teaware and other objects on the side. Though still apathetic to the work, Munenori began assisting his father part-time for the money. It was then that his interest in the art began to emerge.

When it was time to chart his path beyond high school, Munenori declared he would make his way in the world of ceramics. He never entered into a formal apprenticeship, and, though he frequently sought advice from more experienced artisans, remains mostly self-taught.

Despite working in the field of his dreams, Munenori says, watching friends in his graduating class go on to ordinary salaried jobs filled him with doubts about his chosen path. His carved teacups began to sell after nine dark months – certainly welcome relief.

By that time, Munenori had found a new, seemingly insurmountable competitor: a senior craftsman in Tokoname creating carvings based on Ukiyo-e, or woodblock prints from the Edo period. Better, then, Munenori thought, not to imitate existing patterns at all, but to establish a new and unique style. He began throwing his own pieces, which he covered with designs all his own. Within a few years – ten years after his high school graduation – he began covering his pots entirely with carved elements, from spout to handle-tip.

More recently, Munenori says, he has been moving in the opposite direction, purposefully leaving patches on his pieces unadorned. “I’ve come to appreciate the expression and emphasis on my own carvings that removing unnecessary elements of a picture allows,” he said. “A viewer’s impression of a design varies greatly depending on where spaces are situated.” Designs including only a portion of a larger image, as if to imply that the picture has run over its boundaries, are another of Munenori’s specialties.

“Covering an entire piece with carving takes a lot of time and effort, you know – it’s hard work,” Munenori said with a laugh. “I really don’t want to do something as bothersome as that.”