Makers · 作家 · Tokoname
Koyo
鴻陽b. 1944
A tile-maker's son who was pointed toward Chinese antique pots — and one glaze in particular — by 竹山房造 of 芙蓉園. He began making bonsai pots and opened 鴻陽陶園 in 1970. His understanding of glaze is well regarded, and his green is said to recall the green glaze of 東福寺.
Available from YAKUMO JAPAN
Explore Koyo Pots on eBay →At a glance
- Art name
- Koyo 鴻陽
- Real name
- 相羽鴻一郎
- Born
- 1944
- Region
- Tokoname, Aichi 常滑
- Kiln
- Koyo Toen 鴻陽陶園, founded 1970
- Specialism
- Glaze
- Also works in
- Tableware, objects, wall tile; lustre-glaze research
- Son
- 樹晃, also active as a maker of small pots
01 · 転身 The turn
From wall tile to bonsai pots
The family business was tiles, and he took it over.
Around 1968, 竹山房造 of 芙蓉園 suggested he look at Chinese antique pots, and at kin-yū glaze in particular. He took it up as a study, and began making bonsai pots. In 1970 he opened his own kiln as Koyo Toen.
タイル製造から、中国古鉢と均釉の研究へ。
02 · 緑釉 The green
A green that recalls 東福寺
Large or small, glazed or unglazed, his work is credited with a particular inventiveness — but it is the depth of his understanding of glaze that gets singled out.
One comparison in particular is worth knowing. His green — oribe — is described as calling to mind the green glaze of 東福寺, with a deep character of its own.
A green that recalls 東福寺.
The range beyond it is wide: yellow, kin-yū, amber, soba, lapis — and unglazed yakishime as well.
03 · 落款 The mark
Five documented marks, and one that means something else
A fan-shaped seal is documented in connection with small pots. The other documented impression is a composite: 鴻陽造 with the square 鴻陽陶園 kiln stamp beneath it. A separate square 鴻陽 stamp is mentioned alongside them, without an impression.
The fifth is the interesting one. A mountain-shaped mark sitting above the others is not a maker's signature at all — it means 芙蓉園撰, selected by 芙蓉園.
| Mark | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 鴻陽 | Fan-shaped seal — impression documented | Documented in connection with small pots. |
| 鴻陽 | Square stamp — named in text | A second form of the same name. No impression is documented for it. |
| 鴻陽造 | Technique not established, with the kiln stamp below | “Made by Koyo.” |
| 鴻陽陶園 | The kiln name — a square stamp | Set beneath 鴻陽造 in the documented impression. |
| 芙蓉園撰 | A mountain-shaped mark, at the top | Not a maker’s mark. It means selected by 芙蓉園. |
04 · 混同 A name it gets confused with
Kōyō is not Kōhō
These are different readings and should not be conflated. 鴻陽 is Kōyō. Three other names in this field are Kōhō: 光峰, 幸峰 and 好峰.
光峰 is neither a person nor Tokoname: it is recorded as the moulded line of Ichinokura Sekishū in Mino, running from about 1970.
Koho is not the romanisation of this maker’s name. Check the characters: a listing title alone is not decisive.
05 · 代表作 Recorded works
Recorded works
Not for sale — five works recorded for this maker, from 12.5 cm to 48 cm.
| Work | Size (cm) |
|---|---|
| Oribe-glazed rectangle, outer rim, with kiln effects — the kiln-change has depth to it, and it suits broadleaf trees that colour or fruit. A plain form with nothing added. Deeper than most of his, which tend to be shallow | 48 × 36 × 12 |
| Oribe-glazed rectangle, outer rim, cut corners — a clean form, the feet very light. A small pot that knows what a small pot needs | 12.5 × 10 × 3.5 |
| Oribe-glazed oval with flower decoration — unusual for him. Called relief, but the technique is applied clay, not carving. The glaze thins on the raised parts and pools in the hollows, so the colour differs a good deal between them | 16 × 12.5 × 3.5 |
| Unglazed hand-built boat form — natural ash fallen on the surface. The mark of a reduction kiln fired on wood and oil together | 13.5 × 10.5 × 4.5 |
| Soba-glazed rectangular water tray — form and glaze both on the antique side. The glaze is given as soba, though by the usage of the bonsai world it might be called kinren. Made to order, one of one | 39 × 26 × 3.3 |
06 · 広がり Beyond pots
Not only bonsai ware
He has never worked only on pots. Tableware, wall tiles and more sculptural pieces come out of the same kiln, and he is known in the wider ceramic world for research into lustre glaze. There are many awards.
He has also put effort into making small glazed pots by volume methods. Which is worth knowing before you call a Koyo pot a one-off: part of the output is not.
Available
Koyo pots in the collection
Each pot ships worldwide from Tokyo.
Send us a photograph of the underside and we will tell you what the mark says — including whether the mountain-shaped 芙蓉園撰 is above it.