Tatsuzo Shimaoka and Shoji Kamoda: Two Vessels Compared

Place these two handled vessels side by side and begin with their outlines. Tatsuzo Shimaoka's vessel has a square body, broad flat shoulder and short rounded neck. Shoji Kamoda's flower vase has a rounded shoulder rising into a longer, narrower neck. Both bring a circular opening above a substantial body, but their surfaces give the eye quite different routes to follow. Comparing them makes details easier to notice in each.

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A patterned field within clear edges

On Shimaoka's square vessel, dark brown edges make the change from one face to the next especially clear. Fine diagonal marks create a pale, herringbone-like ground. Within it, oval fields hold small red, green and yellow floral passages. The ground has a repeated rhythm; the coloured motifs ask for a closer, slower look. Neither element has to fill the whole face on its own.

This arrangement is particularly engaging because the smaller curved fields sit comfortably inside the larger rectangular structure. Move your attention from a corner to an oval and then into one coloured detail. The vessel remains easy to read as a whole, while offering several levels of discovery. Its quieter shoulder and neck also give the busy body somewhere to pause.

Shimaoka's characteristic cord inlay provides useful general context. The Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum explains the rolling of braided cord across clay and the filling of the impressions with slip; it also describes his combinations of different decorative methods. That account helps us appreciate the possibilities of a textured ground. It does not supply a complete making sequence or glaze recipe for the particular vessel shown here.

A boundary moving across a rounded body

Kamoda's vase offers another kind of movement. Its upper surface is mottled green and brown, with bright reflections on the shoulder. Below, a pale, grainy-looking area carries small dark speckles. Their meeting line dips across the body unevenly. Instead of returning to repeated floral fields, the eye can travel along this changing boundary, noticing how it crosses the rounded volume.

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Fine horizontal rings near the base of the neck introduce a more regular rhythm. They draw attention to the transition between shoulder and opening without becoming the dominant feature. The pleasure here lies in the contrast between a composed silhouette and a varied surface: the outline gathers the work together while the mottled passages keep revealing small differences.

Two ways of holding our attention

Now compare the mouths. Shimaoka's short neck rises above an expansive flat shoulder; Kamoda's narrower neck grows out of a long curve. The first makes a crisp change of direction, while the second stretches the transition. Together with their different surfaces, these decisions explain much of each work's appeal. One combines a clear framework with many small coloured encounters. The other lets an uneven surface boundary animate a full, rounded form. These are different visual experiences, and each rewards an unhurried look.

In each photograph, follow the outline, then follow one surface feature. Where do those two routes meet, and where do they pull apart?

Both are works we have handled, shown for reference.

Sources and further reading

• Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum — Inlaid square jar by Tatsuzo Shimaoka

Continue looking

Tatsuzo Shimaoka: Flowers and Rhythm on a Square Vase

Shoji Kamoda: Two Surfaces on an Ash-Glazed Flower Vase