16x13x4 Inch Gyouzan Rectangle Bonsai Pot #388 – Bottom Border, Glazed, Chop Mark

The decorative border on this one runs around the base rather than the rim, which is an unusual place to put it. It reads as a plinth, and it changes how the pot sits. The eye travels down the form and finds something finished at the bottom instead of a plain edge. That kind of decision is characteristic of Gyouzan, a kiln whose reputation rests less on technical polish than on a willingness to put things where other potters would not.

The glaze is the scarcer half. Of everything that came out of the Gyouzan kiln, the glazed pieces are the ones collectors chase hardest. Many of those still in circulation are fifty to sixty years old, and at some point production of the glazed work simply stopped. We have never had a straight answer as to why, and given everything else about the man, there may never have been one to give. The kiln sat in the mountains, well away from the gallery circuit, and Yukizyou Nakano worked there quietly until his death. His son Yuuji has the kiln now, so the glazed work from his father's own hand is a closed and shrinking set.

At 16 by 13 inches and 4 inches deep, this is a large rectangle running shallow for its footprint. That proportion favours a developed root system over a thirsty one, which points toward deciduous material or a broad, well-established tree rather than a conifer still building roots. Worth turning over before you commit: a nail signature on the base is what separates a handmade Gyouzan from a production run, and it is the first thing an experienced collector checks.