9.5 x 3.5 Inch Bigei Round Bonsai Pot #417 – Shiny Hand Carved Finish, Unglazed, Chop & Nail Signed

A mountain scene with a waterfall, carved by hand into the side of the pot. Bigei worked fine detail into otherwise restrained shapes, and landscape carving is one of the forms that detail took. On a round body the scene wraps rather than sitting in a flat panel, so it reads differently depending on which way the pot is turned.

Bigei is the working name of Hirata Atsumi, who potted in Tokoname, one of Japan's six ancient kiln towns, until his kiln closed on his retirement. He is best known for unglazed shudei, the reddish-brown Tokoname clay, rubbed and burnished by hand until it takes the smooth and almost lustrous surface this pot has. That finish is the thing to examine. The buffing took hours no production line would spend, so the depth and evenness of the sheen is the clearest guide to a handmade piece. It is nail signed, the mark scratched into the clay with a pointed tool before firing.

At 9.5 inches across and 3.5 inches deep, this round has useful root volume for its footprint. That depth suits a tree that still wants some soil rather than one settled into a finished shallow display, and the unglazed clay will darken with watering and take patina over the years. With a scene carved on one side, it is worth deciding early which face is the front.