Tsuji Seimei

Exhibitions
biography

Tsuji Seimei established his interest in ceramics as a young boy and was able to successfully wheel-throw as early as eleven. While a youthful prodigy, he met the reigning masters of the day, Tomimoto Kenkichi, Hamada Shōji, and Itaya. Residing and working in Tokyo for his entire career, he collaborated with his well-respected ceramist-wife Tsuji Kyô (1930-2009). Tsuji is most celebrated for his work in the traditional aesthetics of Shigaraki ceramics creating not only functional vessels, most especially tea ware, but also sculptural forms often relating to the foreign ‘objets’ and antiques in his own collection and that of his antiques-dealer father.
1927 Born in Tokyo, Setagaya
1940 Establishes, with his sister, the Tsuji Ceramic Institute, Tokyo
1948 Founds the Shin kôjin-kai (New Craftsmen Association)
1949 Built a gas kiln, succeeded in making a lower temperature color glazed piece
1955 Built a three-chambered climbing kiln in Tama kyûryô, Tokyo together with his ceramist-wife Tsuji Kyô
1964 Started to apply a natural Shigaraki glaze
1982 Tsuji Seimei utsuwa gashu, published by Bunka shuppankyoku
1986 Tsuji Seimei Sakuhinshu, published by Kodansha
Built new noborigama in Hotaka, Matsumoto in Nagano
2006 Designated "Honorable Citizen of Tokyo"

Awards:

1952 Craft Prize, Kôfûkai Exhibition (also in 1953)
1964 Japan Ceramic Association, Japan Ceramic Association
1983 Gold Prize, Japan Ceramic Association

Public Collections:

Art Complex Museum, Duxberry MA
International Museum of Ceramic, Faenza, Italy
Indiana University Art Museum
National Museum of Modern, Art, Tokyo
Musée Tomo, Tokyo
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
Tsuji Seimei
bio pt 1

(1927-2008)

TSUJI SEIMEI established his interest in ceramics as a young boy and was able to successfully wheel-throw as early as eleven. While a youthful prodigy, he met the reigning masters of the day, including Tomimoto Kenkichi, Hamada Shōji, and Itaya Hazan. Residing and working in Tokyo for his entire career, he collaborated with his wife Tsuji Kyō (1930-2009), a well-respected ceramicist as well. Tsuji is most celebrated for his work in the traditional aesthetics of Shigaraki ceramics. He created not only functional vessels, including tea ware, but also sculptural forms often relating to the foreign ‘objets’ and antiques in his own collection and that of his antiques-dealer father.