‘The Philosophy of Oribe’
An exploration of the life and times of Furuta Oribe as influencer to 450 years of ceramic expression
Makoto Yamaguchi is a 6th generation artist born in Seto, Japan in 1978. He is son to the late 5th generation ceramic artist Masafumi Yamaguchi thereby inheriting a ceramic legacy that stretches back into the mid 19th Century. As with all artists who gain the responsibility to carry forward an established and favoured family tradition, it was a considerable challenge but one he has undoubtedly risen to and is excelling at.
In this exhibition ‘The Philosophy of Oribe’ , his first solo exhibition outside of Japan, we see him at what would surely feel like the zenith of a potter’s career twice his age. So at the relatively tender age of 44 one can only see him going on to be one of the most famous Oribe artists of his generation, setting a standard that the next generation can only begin to aspire to. In recent travels around Japan the mention of his name to both emerging and senior artists alike produced knowing nods and words of enormous affection and approval. The subject of endless solo shows in some of the best galleries in cities across Japan, Yamaguchi san has earned an incredibly high status for a maker independently established for less than 20 years. It is his attention to detail, inherited instincts and progressive attitude combined with a herculean work ethic and respect for tradition that earns him this spot. His fabulous greens and blues thickly applied and traversed across the surface of his pieces make even those unfamiliar with Japanese ceramics weak at the knees, and rightly so.
Hence, on the eve of this important exhibition for Yamaguchi san, it feels only right, if not essential, to give his work a brief context within the history of Oribe in Japan.
It is common for Westerners to think that ‘Oribe’ is the name given to the wondrous deep green copper glaze that can be found on the surface of many a Japanese potter’s vessels and forms. Indeed, it is correct to call that glaze ‘Oribe’ but leaving your knowledge there misses your opportunity to understand the ‘renaissance’ like impact of what Oribe truly means.
‘Oribe’ is in fact the bestowed name of Furuta Oribe, an artistically important historical figure in Japan who was born in 1543. Oribe was brought into this world the child of a high ranking Samurai family during a time of great turbulence in Japan. Not really a singular country at that point in history, Japan was an interconnected landmass of warring states. Few people alive in Japan at the time of his birth had known peace, wars between rival clans had dominated the islands and would continue to do so for another 70 years. It was into this era that Oribe would establish himself as one of the most important cultural influences in Japan’s history, an honour he still holds today with artists across the country revisiting his aesthetic philosophy as a source of inspiration for contemporary works. It is from this deep well of astonishing artistic accomplishments that Makoto Yamaguchi san’s work must be considered.
Being of Samurai lineage, Oribe was expected to be a warrior. His military achievements were significant as was his intelligence. He is thought to have been responsible for convincing his family to switch warring allegiance to Oda Nobunaga in the 1580s, a difficult but sensible decision as Nobunaga went on to conquer large swathes of Japan thereafter. However it is not his status and duty as warrior that has seen him remembered in Japan’s artistic community and it’s fair to say that that side of his life was not where his heart lay.
His legacy artistic achievements were born from his close association with Japan’s 16th Century tea culture. It is hard for Westerners, even for students of Japanese tea culture history, to emotionally grasp that something as simple to us as tea could be elevated to an extent where a tea bowl could be viewed as worth more than great expanses of land ownership, but that was the scenario in Oribe’s adulthood. In the 16th Century the most celebrated and influential tea master was Sen no Rikyū whose direction on the way of tea, Chanoyu, still exists today in what we know as the Japanese tea ceremony. It is for that reason that it is not possible to discuss Oribe’s life and accomplishments without first speaking of Rikyū.
Rikyū’s approach was to move the elite’s celebration of tea away from elaborate surroundings and the inclusion of expensive Chinese made tea implements to modest tea venues and Japanese made, rustic, modest and austere utensils. Whilst not the originator of Wabi-sabi he was certainly the instigator for Wabi-cha, using tea as an emphasis for finding beauty in simplicity. His tea houses were small and the polar opposite of lavish. (Narrow, low entrances required Samurai to remove their swords to be able to enter, removing status for those who did). Rikyū’s philosophy was one of still contemplation of the ordinary with a purity of intent and humility of participation. This came from an idea to overcome the desire for instant gratification from designed and decorated beauty. An aesthetic that is still present and highly valued in many art forms in Japan and most certainly ceramics, Rakuware being the most famous. (Please do not confuse this with pottery throw down raku - that is a Western version with no respectful links to the Japanese Raku family tradition and a subject for a future essay!)
As a tea master in the 16th and 17th century you would be closely associated with prominent Daimyo, such was the importance of Chanoyu. Daimyo were powerful warlords, vassals of the Shogun in a hereditary, feudal governmental system. 16th Century Daimyo knew nothing but war, protecting and expanding lands through bloodshed was the norm. It was to one such Daimyo that Rikyū was first appointed as tea master, the incredibly ambitious and bloodthirsty warlord Oda Nobunaga. Upon Nobunaga’s death in 1582 (his guards were ambushed by one of his subordinate generals in Kyoto whilst preparing for a tea ceremony and hence he committed honourable suicide when it was clear all was lost!) Rikyū went on to serve as tea master to Toyotomi Hideyoshi who avenged Nobunaga’s death caused by the scheming of turncoat general Akechi Mistsuhide. Hideyoshi, a peasant’s son, defied all odds and rose to become the most powerful Daimyo in Japan. In relatively peaceful times under Hideyoshi’s eventual unification of Japan, Rikyū was said to have overstepped his influence and independence and fall foul of the increasingly erratic Hideyoshi. in 1591, Rikyū was ordered to commit suicide by Hideyoshi, an order he complied with but not before holding an exquisite tea ceremony and writing poetry to mark his end.
It was into this volatile and violent environment that Oribe became tea master to Hideyoshi. In fact it was Hideyoshi who bestowed the name ‘Oribe’ to him as his name by birth was ’Shigenari’, an honour to represent his military accomplishments and allegiance. Whilst there is dispute to this day that Oribe was a direct pupil of Rikyū, he is certainly seen as a disciple and many scholars believe he would have had to have been a pupil. Rikyū is thought to have taught his pupils to think and do things differently and whilst many pupils only tinkered with minor changes to the way of tea, Oribe was to secure his legacy by taking his master’s advice to the next level.
Oribe was to have a similarly significant impact on tea and arts culture as his master Rikyū but, perhaps, with many outcomes that Rikyū may not have been particularly supportive. Whilst Oribe did maintain many aspects of Rikyū’s developments he also radically changed the way the tea ceremony was to be experienced. Tea rooms became bigger, maintaining a simplicity of subdued decoration but also introducing windows to allow views of landscaped gardens and an inclusion of natural and designed beauty. Instruments of tea would become a large focus for him and tea bowls in particular carry that legacy of change to this day. Gone were the strict adherence to austere and rustic. Oribe set about becoming a type of 16th Century Art Director.
It is perhaps as an Art Director that we should think of Oribe’s influence. He was not a potter, textile maker, painter or practical artisan but rather an arbiter of taste, design and progress. His direction was to encourage a flamboyant style and this is none more seen than in the influence he had on late 16th and early 17th Century ceramics. Whilst much of the initial take up on his art direction was with Mino ceramic makers, this soon spread, even to unglazed tradition areas such as Iga and Shigaraki. But it was his fondness for and encouragement of the glorious greens of copper glazing that his name will forever be associated. However beyond that he introduced ideas that at the time would have seemed radical, almost dangerously different, a key example being deforming the symmetry of tea bowls to make them look like the wooden cloggs worn at the time. Decorative painting in geometric and naturalistic designs combined with loose proximity to glaze in shapes that were free of restriction would all have been amazing ideas to those that saw them for the first time. Think London’s Swinging 60s psychedelic clothing worn by hippies Vs the bowler hats and dark suits of business men of the same time. There was an explosion of expression within ceramics with immediate impact being felt on the most important of cultural rituals, the tea ceremony. The diary of a 16th century merchant Kamiya Sōtan visiting Kyoto on the eve of the 17th Century in 1599 gives us a glimpse. He noted that the tea bowls being used at Oribe’s tea salon were “delightfully waggish, Setoware with warps!”. It must have felt so modern and exciting after the transition from Rikyū’s austere.
It is also worth stating that Oribe was very much the trend setter and not follower. His vision for different was a singular and personal desire. Whilst many of the classifications of Oribeware passed on and still used today were attached to his styles posthumously, the fact that so many of these classifications exist and are still used is testament to his influence. In the mid 17th Century we see the first writings recording his influence on ceramics. Notably descriptions of Oribe tea bowls having ‘thick, low profiles, indented walls with a shoe shaped rim, the clay body being white with thick glazes of black, green, brown or red brown. Vessels with black designs under transparent glaze in which the base layer is white with delightful crackles’. It’s clear that relatively soon after his death his stylistic achievement had become almost brand like. “Oribe’ was no longer the reference to a person’s name but rather had become a descriptor of taste and preference. No wonder then that so many pottery traditions adopted a form of Oribe style to their repertoire.
Classifications of Oribeware became more and more specific. At the time this would have not been a deliberate attempt to notify his artistic influence on ceramics but 450 years later it certainly serves as one. Here are just a few of the more commonly seen classifications still in use today but by no means the only classifications. ’Oribeguro’ - All Black. “Kuro-Oribe” - Black with decoration in a reserved area. “Sō Oribe” - Allover green glaze. “Ao Oribe” - partial green glaze with contrasting underglaze. “Narumi-Oribe” - contrasting glaze pours giving designs previously seen on resist dyed textiles. “Aka-Oribe” - allowing red clay to dominate with no green accents. “Shino-Oribe” a well fired Shino with dark oni-ita underglaze markings. “Green-Oribe” - we all know what this means!
Kiln designs were also to come under Oribe’s influence. To develop the kind of firing environments that would allow the development and progression of favoured glazes, kiln designs that had existed previous to Oribe’s influence were redesigned to accommodate further investigations of firing techniques, glaze types and recipes. Detailed excavation work at the Motoyashiki kiln sites in Gifu Prefecture discovered a bounty of ceramic sherds that displayed a wide range of Oribe wares. Being buried underground for 450 years had preserved these sherds to an extent that their surfaces gave a better feel for how they would have looked straight after firing, even better than the whole pieces that have been exposed to use and life above ground. The dating of the site went back to what is called the ‘Momoyama’ period (1573-1615), the time of Oribe’s active influence on ceramics. So important to Japanese culture are the discovered sherds from various kiln sites of the Momoyama period that many are listed as national treasures.
In addition to the tea ceremony and ceramics, Oribe was also to have influence on Japanese textile design, paintings, calligraphy, lacquerware and poetry. In the context of trying to appreciate his legacy as a current day collector of Japanese ceramic art, we need to see him as an originator, free thinker and designer without concern for how those around him might judge his creativity. It is thanks to his incredible life lived within the most extraordinarily unstable of times that we get to enjoy work today that might not be green glazed but certainly is Oribe! We have to wonder how much more could we discover of this great man’s achievements were his life not cut short? In 1615 aged 71 and in good health, Oribe came to a tragic end. Whilst in residence at Osaka castle Oribe was wrongly assumed to have been part of a plot to overthrow the then supreme ruler of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu. As a result Ieyasu ordered Oribe to commit suicide and, like his master before him - Sen no Rikyū, he complied as did his son.
There are many 16th and 17th Century ceramic works held in museums across the world that pay homage to the renaissance like impact of Oribe’s vision. What is striking about them is just how fresh and modern they look, even today. You will also note how, 450 years later, contemporary artists like Makoto Yamaguchi are still drawing upon the ideas and energy of a former Samurai warrior for modern inspiration. ‘Oribe’ today is an adventurous playground for artists - possessing boundaries but also encouraging of expression, freedom, change and delight. All of this you will see in Makoto Yamaguchi’s work.
In this exhibition I encourage you to see his work as the manifestation of an inherited respect for Oribe as an influencer of design and creativity. Oribe as a signpost to form. Oribe as a chance to delight with colour. Oribe as vehicle for contemplation. Oribe as a philosophy.
Howard Clegg
Director
The Stratford Gallery
February 2023
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