Kaneshige Tōyō

(1896-1967)

The first Bizen potter to be designated as Living National Treasure in 1956, KANESHIGE TŌYŌ was a seminal ceramic artist of twentieth-century Japan. By the late 1920s, he had begun his life-long pursuit of revitalizing Ko-Bizen (Old Bizen) wares of the Momoyama period (1573-1615). He rediscovered the techniques used to produce such wares, namely the long-lost methods of clay preparation, kiln building, loading, and firing, and revived the style of Old Bizen ware. The popularity of his wares helped lay the foundation for Bizen’s present prosperity. 

Major Public Collections:

Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto, Japan
Brooklyn Museum, NY
Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi, Japan
Honolulu Art Museum, HI
Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Kasama, Japan
Indiana Art Museum, Bloomington, IN
Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Kanō Museum, Aki, Japan
Menard Art Museum, Komaki, Japan
Mt. Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
National Treasures Museum, Yugawara, Japan
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT