12x9.5x3 Inch Suzuki Suzan Rectangle Bonsai Pot #162 – Hand Carved Extended Rim, Unglazed, Chop Mark

Every pot Suzuki Suzan made was made to order, one commission at a time, and this one carries a special commission signature to say so. That fact explains most of the others about his work. He never ran production lines, so there is no quality gradient in his catalogue, no exhibition pieces getting his full attention while the small work was finished by whoever happened to be free. Every pot that left the kiln was built for somebody specific.

The rim extends out past the wall, a border runs around the bottom of the body, and the whole pot was worked by hand. Suzan spent his career on a clay body of his own, importing and refining material until it had real structural strength without the mass that usually comes with it, which is why his pots feel lighter in the hand than their size suggests. He left almost all of his work unglazed. When the clay is the achievement, covering it makes little sense.

At 12 by 9.5 inches and 3 inches deep this is shallow for its footprint. That suits a tree whose roots are already developed rather than one still building mass, and a rectangle reads formally, which pairs with an upright trunk. The unglazed clay holds patina well and will keep deepening with watering.