Pottery made by Japanese master potter Kazuo Takiguchi.

Rare Japanese brutalist pottery made by master potter Takiguchi Kazuo, designated as a national treasure. In Japan, the title "national treasure" (or "kokuho" in Japanese) is awarded to cultural properties of exceptional importance to the Japanese nation . This may include works of art, historical objects, documents, monuments, historic sites, and other items considered national treasures because of their significant cultural, historical, or artistic value. These national treasures are protected and preserved by the Japanese state, and they are often exhibited in national museums or historical sites. Receiving the designation of National Treasure is a prestigious recognition and speaks to the exceptional importance of the object to the culture and history of Japan. Kazuo Takiguchi was born and raised in Tokyo. He studied with the famous potter Kiyomizu Rokubei, then spent a brief time with Yagi Kazuo, master of pottery and one of the founders of the Sōdeisha movement (1948-1998), to which Kazuo Takiguchi is heir. The sōdeisha movement was formed in protest of the mingei movement, dominant in Japan in the mid-20th century. It promotes two rules: the prohibition of drawing inspiration from ancient forms of pottery, thus breaking with the forms of traditional Japanese pottery; as well as the refusal to participate in classic artistic circuits, like trade fairs. This institutional refusal allowed them to escape external judgment and therefore to be able to freely explore multiple forms, often biomorphic and non-functional. At the same time, it is deeply marked by the ceramics made by Picasso, who appropriates the surface of the containers to make them means of representation. Heir to this movement, Kazuo Takiguchi offers ceramics with abstract shapes.

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