Makers · 作家 · Gunma
Fujikake Yūzan
藤掛雄山b. 1936
Fujikake Yūzan worked in Gunma. He built a kiln in Kiryū in 1970, began making small bonsai pots in 1972, and from 1974 concentrated on painted pots. Yūzan is his art name.
At a glance
- Art name
- Fujikake Yūzan 藤掛雄山
- Reading
- ふじかけ ゆうざん
- Real name
- 藤掛義雄
- Born
- 1936
- Region
- Gunma 群馬
- Kiln built
- Kiryū, 1970
- Small bonsai pots
- From 1972
- Painted pots
- Concentrated on them from 1974
- Workshop moved
- Nitta district, Gunma, 1978
- Body
- Mainly porcelain clay
- Decoration
- Underglaze blue, red enamel and overglaze colours
- Forming
- Rectangular pots carved out; round pots thrown
- Firing
- Oil-fired and electric kilns
- Documented marks
- Several forms and dated series currently documented
01 · 経歴 His life
From hobby to painted pots
Fujikake Yūzan 藤掛雄山 was born in 1936. His real name is 藤掛義雄.
After graduating from technical high school he studied textile design and painting.
Shohin bonsai and pottery were hobbies from an early age. In 1970 he built a kiln in Kiryū.
He began making small bonsai pots in 1972, and from 1974 concentrated on painted pots. That year he first showed his work at a national exhibition of small bonsai pots.
In 1978 he moved his workshop to Nitta district, Gunma.
02 · 制作 The work
Porcelain, painted by hand
He worked mainly in porcelain clay. His bonsai pots were decorated in underglaze blue, 染付 sometsuke, in red enamel, 赤絵 aka-e, and in overglaze colours, 色絵 iro-e.
Rectangular pots were carved out; round pots were thrown on the wheel. He fired in oil-fired and electric kilns.
He worked by hand and took care to vary the painted decoration from pot to pot. His aim was a pot made both to be looked at and to be used.
Besides bonsai pots, he also made other ceramics.
03 · 落款 The mark
Documented forms and dated series
Several mark forms and dated series are currently documented for him. Other forms may exist.
| Mark | Reading | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 雄子 | Amateur-period form | Used in his amateur years. |
| 雄山 | Yūzan — long, horizontal | Early period. |
| 藤掛雄山 | Fujikake Yūzan — four characters | Used for special orders. |
| 雄山 | Yūzan — single-frame series | Used from 1973 to 1977. |
| 雄山 | Yūzan — double-frame series | Used from 1978. |
| 雄山造 | Yūzan-zō | Used from 1993. |
| 雄山 | Yūzan — later framed form | Used from 1993. |
| 雄山 | Yūzan — later unframed form | Used from 1993. |
In the single-frame sequence, all four corners were closed in 1973. One further corner was opened each year, until all four were open in 1977.
These periods describe when each mark form or series was in use. They do not by themselves establish the year a particular pot was made.
Reading a mark
What we can — and cannot — tell you
Send a clear photograph of the underside and we will tell you what the mark says.
We do not issue authentications, and where a mark is beyond what we can read, we will say so rather than guess.