Daruma Figure Made of Bizen Ware from the 1930s
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 30 cm
- Width 12 cm
- Weight 1760 g
- Color Brown
- Item Type Figure
- Material Ceramics
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Style / Tradition Bizen-yaki
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
Dating from the 1930s, this expressive Bodhidharma figure made of Bizen ware shows a face with a rare balance between severity and inner calm. The deep-set eyes beneath the strongly modeled brows gaze forward, alert and focused, while the slightly drooping corners of the mouth lend the expression a sense of composure at the same time.
Wrapped in a wide hood pulled over the head, the figure stands with arms crossed in front of the chest – a classic posture that portrays the Zen patriarch as an introspective, unshakeable master. The unglazed surface of the Bizen ware shifts between warm reddish-brown and darker shadings, as is typical of the traditional wood-fired kilns of this region, reinforcing the earthy, immediate impact of the piece.
As a handcrafted one-of-a-kind piece, this figure combines the characteristic roughness of the Bizen-yaki tradition with an unusually fine rendering of the facial features. It is thus an impressive example of how Japanese ceramics can give expression to the motif of the watchful, powerful Bodhidharma.
