Functional Forms

In honor of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month we feature stoneware by Toshiko Takaezu.

To learn more about the Asian pottery tradition, stop by our Renwick Gallery today to watch the video, "The Korean Onggi Potter."

Ceramist Takaezu is known for the quality of her thrown forms, the subtlety of brush decoration, and the range of her glaze coloration. Her Buddhist upbringing and interest in Zen are evident in the concentration with which she works at the wheel and in the freedom and spontaneity with which she brush decorates.

Source: The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art (Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation, 1973).

Pictured: Toshiko Takaezu, born 1922, Full Moon, 1978, hand-built and glazed stoneware with interior pebbles, 27 3/4 x 29 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase and gift of the James Renwick Alliance.