Takatori Ware Slender Vase by Hekizan Onimaru

The name Hekizan was conferred by the Roshi of Daitoku-ji — the head temple of Rinzai Zen Buddhism — a distinction that marks not achievement, but character. Works from this kiln are held in the permanent collections of Ginkaku-ji and Daitoku-ji in Kyoto. This vase comes from that lineage.

The Object

This vase was shaped by hand into a form the Takatori tradition calls tsurukubi — the crane neck. To pull clay upward into a column this slender, and hold it there without collapse, requires a breath held steady against gravity itself.

The surface is not painted. What you see — the deep amber bleeding into black, the slow drift of glaze across the body — is the direct result of wood ash suspended in the kiln atmosphere, settling and melting in ways no hand could predict or repeat. Every firing produces a different result. This is the only vase that carries exactly this surface, in exactly this proportion. That is not a sales claim. It is the nature of the process.

On Living With It

Place it empty on a low shelf, near a window. In morning light the glaze reads brown; by afternoon, green undertones emerge from beneath the amber. At dusk, it turns almost black.

If you choose to use it for flowers, think restraint. A single stem of miscanthus, one branch of quince in winter — the vase does not need to be filled. Its weight and proportion already anchor a room. What you place inside is secondary to what the vase itself brings.

The Tradition

Takatori ware has existed for over 400 years, developed under the patronage of the Kuroda clan and shaped by the aesthetic philosophy of tea master Kobori Enshu — who selected it as one of his seven favored kilns. Enshu's guiding principle was kirei-sabi: beauty that is elegant without being excessive, refined without being cold. This vase is an expression of that sensibility, made new.

Condition & Provenance

This piece has been preserved, unused, in its original signed wooden box. It has never been displayed. The tomobako is sealed in the traditional manner. You will be the first to place it.

One vase. One owner. No reissue.

Artisan: Hekizan Onimaru · Onimaru Kiln, Koishiwara, Fukuoka

Tradition: Takatori Ware — one of Enshu's Seven Kilns 

Form: Tsurukubi (Crane Neck Vase) 

Technique: Wood-fired, natural ash glaze Size: H 25 cm · W 9 cm

Includes: Original signed wooden box (tomobako)

Condition: New — unused, sealed in original box

Shipping: Complimentary worldwide express shipping · fully insured