Shimaoka Tatsuzō

  • Exhibitions

  • biography

    Shimaoka Tatsuzō was the foremost pupil of Hamada Shoji (1894-1978) until his recent death, was regarded as Japan's leading folk craft potter. Shimaoka's signature style, known as "Jomon-zogan" in Japanese, combines cord-impressed decoration and the white-slip inlay technique used in the Punch'ong ware, popular in the Choson Dynasty of Korea. Shimaoka's use of a variety of glazes enhanced the richness of his folk style tableware. He also successfully developed a Western-influenced salt glaze technique that Hamada had first introduced. For his mastery of the Jōmon technique of rope-impressed stoneware, he was named a Living National Treasure in 1996. He was also an incredibly influential teacher of a new generation of ceramists.

    1920 Born in Tokyo
    1941 Graduated from the ceramic department of Tokyo Technical University
    1946 Became pupil of Hamada Shōji (1894-1978)
    1949 Worked for the Tochigi Prefecture Ceramic Training Institute
    1950 Helped Shirasaki Shunji make replicas of Jomon earthenware
    1954 Built kiln in Mashiko next to Hamada
    1968 Visiting lecturer at summer courses at University of California, Long Beach and University of California, San Diego. Traveled to Europe.
    1982 Lecture tour to Canada sponsored by the Japan Foundation
    1989 The Tokyo National Modern Art Museum adds Salt Glaze Inlay Jômon Plate to their collection.
    1996 Hosted NHK educational television series, part 13 The New Ceramics
    2007 Passed away in December

    Awards:

    1962 Japan Folk Art Museum Prize, Japan Folk Art Museum Exhibition of New Works
    1980 Tochigi Prefecture Cultural Merits
    1994 Gold Prize, Japanese Ceramic Exhibition
    1996 Designated by the Japanese government as Living National Treasure Mino Prefecture Folk Art Prize

    Selected Public Collections:

    Art Complex Museum, Duxberry Massachusetts
    Art Institute of Chicago
    Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
    Asian Art Museums of San Francisco
    Brooklyn Museum
    Cleveland Museum of Art
    Honolulu Academy of Arts
    Los Angeles County Museum, CA
    Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
    Victoria and Albert Museum, London
    Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

  • Shimaoka Tatsuzō 島岡 達三

    Shimaoka Tatsuzō 島岡 達三

  • bio pt 1

    bio pt 1

    (1919-2007)

    SHIMAOKA TATSUZŌ was the foremost pupil of Hamada Shoji (1894-1978) and, until his death, was regarded as Japan's leading folk craft potter. Shimaoka's signature style, known as "Jomon-zogan" in Japanese, combines cord-impressed decoration and the white-slip inlay technique used in Punch'ong ware, popular during the Chōson Dynasty of Korea. Shimaoka's use of a variety of glazes enhanced the richness of his folk style tableware. He also successfully developed a Western-influenced salt glaze technique that Hamada had first introduced. For his mastery of the Jōmon technique of rope-impressed stoneware, he was named a Living National Treasure in 1996.  He was a remarkably influential teacher of a new generation of ceramists.

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