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永樂而全

Eiraku Jizen

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Eiraku Jizen 永樂而全

Eiraku Jizen - Artists - Joan B Mirviss LTD | Japanese Fine Art | Japanese Ceramics
Eiraku Jizen - Artists - Joan B Mirviss LTD | Japanese Fine Art | Japanese Ceramics

Born 1944, Kyoto, Japan

Born as Eiraku Kōichi, the artist who became Eiraku Zengorō XVII succeeded to the family name upon his father's death in 1998. For decades, he was head of this established Kyōyaki (Kyoto ware) family, one of the Senke Jissoku (10 craftsmen working for tea masters of the House of Sen). He studied Japanese painting and arts and crafts at Tokyo University of the Arts. He excels in kinrande, sometsuke, shonzui, aka-e, kōchi, the Kyoto-based Kenzan and Ninsei traditions of surface decoration. Following his succession to the Zengorō title, he has energetically created work that reflect his personal style and interest in aesthetics beyond those of traditional Kyoto. Besides multiple solo exhibitions in Japan, he has been featured in solo shows in both France and Germany. As a leader in such a prestigious family of clay masters, he entered Dentō kōgei ten (Traditional Arts and Crafts Exhibition) many times. In 2020, he retired and passed the Zengorō title to his son and continues to create under the artist name Jizen.

Eiraku Jizen - Artists - Joan B Mirviss LTD | Japanese Fine Art | Japanese Ceramics

Eiraku ware was first established in the late Muromachi in Kyoto. Together with Raku ceramics, Eiraku teaware has been highly esteemed for over 250 years by the Sansenke families of tea ceremony practitioners: Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushkojisenke. Their aesthetic is in part derived from the Kyōyaki overglaze enamel work of Nomura Ninsei (act. mid-17th c.) blended with aspects of Chinese blue-and-white ko-sometsuke, shonzui and red-underglaze ko-aka-e that were all quite popular in the Edo period. Highly decorative and at times elaborate, the Eiraku tradition has offered an elegant option for the refined patrons in Kyoto seeking more color and energy than the austere stoneware utensils of the Raku tradition provide.

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