12x10x4 Inch Yamaaki Oval Bonsai Pot #1 – Thick Rim, Unglazed, Double Chop & Nail Signed

A first-generation Yamaaki, and that is the whole story here. Akitsuga Kataoka founded the kiln in 1920 and worked under the names Jyuudo and then Shousen until his death in 1990. First-generation pots are the most sought after in the Yamaaki lineage, partly on quality and partly on age. His work predates the gas furnace the kiln installed in the 1970s and the high-volume production that followed, so there was never much of it to begin with.

The form is bold and the rim is thick, the kind of substance that survives a century of handling and repotting. It carries a double chop alongside a nail signature. The chops are pressed seals; the nail signature is scratched into the clay by hand while it was still leather-hard, and it means a specific artisan finished this piece rather than that it merely left the kiln. One more thing worth knowing about Kataoka pots: the family mixed sawdust into their clay body, which burned out in the firing and left the walls more breathable and lighter than they look. That detail matters more to the tree than to the person buying it.

At 12 by 10 inches and 4 inches deep this is a middle-sized oval with genuine root volume. Four inches suits a tree whose roots are established, and an oval carries a heavy trunk more gently than a rectangle would. The unglazed Tokoname clay sits back behind a conifer or a tree with interesting bark, and it will keep darkening with watering.