12. Ito Tozan 

TOZAN  Ito Tozan [伊東 陶山]

Ito Tozan I (1846-1920)

Ito Tozan II (1871-1931) 

Ito Tozan III (1901-70).

 

The Ito family spanned three generations. Ito Tozan I (1846-1920) began his artistic career studying painting in the Shijo manner under Koizumi Togaku before moving to the plastic arts under a number of teachers, including Takahashi Dohachi. He worked very closely with his son in law, Ito Tozan II (1871-1937). He too started his career as a painter, but his talent was seen by Tozan I, who converted him to pottery where he excelled as a member of one of Kyotos most well known pottery families. The line unfortunately died with the third Tozan in 1970.

 
Ito Tozan I (1846-1920)

Ito Tozan I is the go or art name of Ito Jutaro (1846 – 1920) who started as a painter in the Maruyama school and was trained by Koizumi Togaku. In 1862 he became a student of Kameya Kyokutei,  Takahashi Dohachi III, Taizan Yohei IX  and Kanzan Denshichi. At the end of the Edo shogunate in 1867 he opened his own kiln in Eastern Kyoto and started a flourishing business in the manufactury and export of dinnerware and accessories. He made an effort for the revival of Asahi ware and improvement of Awata ware and began to use the name Tozan around 1895.

 Ito Tozan I was very successfull and he received many appraisals. From 1883 and later he won awards in Japan as well as abroad at the Amsterdam, Paris and Chicago World Expositions. He also was honoured by the Imperial Court  and like his teacher Denshichi, he created the dishes for the Imperial family. In 1899 he was given the Medal with Green Ribbon and in 1912 he  received gold and silver seals and another name of "Tou-Ou" by Prince Kuninomiya, the father in law of emperor Meiji.  In 1917 he became a member of the Imperial Art Academy, one of only five potters ever given that title.

 

Ito Tozan worked very closely with his son in law, Ito Tozan II (1871-1937) with whom he started to make Zeze ware. In 1920 shortly before his death, he completed the Tozan Studio with new killns  to the foot of Mt.Kagamiyama of eastern Kyoto.

Ito Tozan I. Vase decorated with the imperial symbols of 16 petal chrysanthemum and Go-shichi Nobori Kiri among over-glaze bamboo and floral designs

 Ito Tozan I, a vase with scattered bunches of cut and tied flowers

Ito Tozan II (1871-1937) 

Ito Tozan II was born as Shinsuke, the fourth son of Hisakuni Honda whose family served as advisors of the Zeze domain. The Zeze domain was famous for its pottery known as Zezeyaki. Its kiln was established at the beginning of the 17th century under the patronage of the feudal lord and influential tea master Kobori Enshu (1579-1647). Zezeyaki has a blackish brown iron glaze and the tea ceremony utensils were much appreciated among other feudal lords and the kiln enjoyed many years of success before closing at the end of the 17th century due to financial issues.

Shinsuke married the daughter of Ito Tozan I and upon joining this illustrious family of potters, took his new name Ito Tozan II.Having previously studied nihonga (Japanese style painting) his innovative motifs added an elegant and artistic flair to his pottery. Along with his stepfather and other artists such as Shunkyo Yamamoto (1872-1933), they re-established the Zeze pottery studio and named it Zeze Kagerōen (The shimmering garden of Zeze). Tozan II , like his s father in law, was trained as a painter, but his talent was recognized by his predecessor and he was brought in to be trained and take over the family lineage Tozan II expanded the family name to become quite popular in porcelain. With only 17 years of production, works signed by him are rare. He was succeeded by his son Tozan III (1900-1970).

Ito Tozan II. An oviform "Arts and Crafts" style vase with short straight neck, decorated in the manner of a design by William Morris.

Ito Tozan III (1900-1970)

Ito Tozan III, the third generation of the Ito Tozan line of potters learned pottery from his father Ito Tozan II (1871-1937) and his grandfather Ito Tozan I (1846-1920) from a very young age. He also graduated from Kyoto Picture School and worked as an assistent in the kiln of Hamada Shoji. 

Tozan III received many prestigious awards during his years as a potter and has the distinction of having his pottery held by the Imperial Household. He was a meber of the Modern Industrial Arts Association and was given a  special selection at the Imperial Academy’ s Art Exhibition in 1933. In 1938, one year after the death of Tozan II he took the Tozan III. He died in 1970, ending the line of the Tozan potters family.

 

 

 

Ito Tozan III. Vase in a tall, cylindrical form opening to a squared and flaring mouth, the sides decorated with long lines of snake grass in blue, green, bronze and gold.