Stunning piece of art. Made from authentic wood-fired Bizen clay approx late 1960s or 1970s by the artist Ken Fujiwara (1924–1977).

The square plate in unglazed Bizen clay with strong Hidasuki scarlet lines in the middle looking like lighting strike. The plate is also full of stone burst that are natural mineral stones in the clay that burst during firing breaking the surface of the object. 

I am not sure if the object is the originally meant for functional use such as a serving tray or as decorational piece but I find it to be like a painting - art that is not made anymore in such way. Looking at the modern Bizen masters the techniques and objects look so much cleaner, almost clinical in their execution where this looks like something raw that was created by change in the guidance of talented artist. 

The plate comes without box or accessories. It's clearly marked with the artist signature mark on the backside. There are few small chips in the edges. It's very hard to read such an object and try to figure out what is a chip after firing and and what is something kiln-related. As an example look at the most prominent gray chip on the lower right corner (photos 6. and 7.) - at first I looked it is clearly a chip but notice that the whole lower line has a gray parts moving in horizontal line and this alings with the chip. 

Anyways, important to understand. 1. Extremely beautiful work 2. No box or accessories 3. Minor chips

Lenght 28 cm

Wide 21,5 cm

Depth 1.5 cm

Weight 1700 grams

Highly recommend this piece for those who enjoy the more rougher Bizen. I really like this piece. 

Ken Fujiwara (1924–1977) was Kei Fujiwara’s nephew and a cousin to Yu Fujiwara. Trained under Kei and Kaneshige Toyo, assisted Rosanjin’s Bizen firings in 1954, won the inaugural Kaneshige Toyo Prize (1969), built a large kiln in 1970, and was named an Okayama Prefectural Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1973. His career ended short due to his death.