Thanks for dropping by...

Thank you for dropping by again after my last little rant. I am sure there will be a few more in the future. But as they say it's better out than in.

I thought I would share with you some of the pots I bought while visiting Dan and Cecelia Barton recently.
Here is a picture of  just four of the accent pots.

The pot second from the right, has what they call "Ci's cock up glaze". That is to say it's a glaze they mixed of other glazes but without keeping a record of what was mixed, hence the 'cock up'. When it's gone, it really is gone as Dan and Ci can't reproduce it again. So at some point I must put one away for posterity and to just appreciate it for what it is, rather than plant it up. Although I am sure Dan would rather me use it for what it was intended for. I actually gave one away recently as a special gift to some one or should that be a gift to a special friend? At the time I made sure they understood the relevance of the glaze on the sweet little pot.
I don't have too many with this glaze, but sometimes it's nice to be able to give. And I prefer to give things away I like rather than something I don't like or that has no meaning for me. Otherwise it is a shallow gesture.

The blue pot second from the left has the most amazing blue glaze. I feel I could swim in it. Dan has mixed some wonderful blue glazes over the years and this one is up there with the best.

This was the only large pot I bought (below). A really nice primitive suitable for a conifer.

Many of you who know Dan's pots will be surprised to know that this pot is by Cecelia. I do think Dans hands have also touched it, but all credit to Ci, sometimes Dan steals all the glory even though Ci has for years produced some wonderful accent pots, and her 'flying saucer pots' are world famous. So well done Ci!. No well done me............it's mine now.

I mentioned in my last post I had been able to meet up with Dave Sampson albeit fleetingly at some motorway services. Even though it was a long drive and a short meeting I think it was worth the effort we both made. I got lucky and Dave made a sale. Actually, thinking about it, I got real lucky. It was great to talk stones with Dave over a tea and cake. It was just a shame we could not talk more. I downed COSTA coffee literally by the bucket full to keep awake. Anyone who has seen their large cups will know what I mean. Even Dave commented on the size of the cup,but I really needed the caffeine fix to keep me going.

For anyone interested in suiseki I would recommend them to contact Dave. He is a quiet guy, very honest, who gets great stones at sensible prices. I am happy to pass on his details and I am even more happy to know him.

This first stone is a small SEIGAKU - ISHI.

This is a nice stone and one I am happy to have in my collection for now. I think it compliments the Seigaku I posted earlier from David Goscinski. It so happens that the stone which I got from David in the USA was originally from Dave Sampson here in the UK!

And now a very good stone. This time a SETAGAWA - ISHI which was previously owned by a famous collector Chuji Sugii.

For those of you who may find this of interest, please find here some information supplied to me by Dave Sampson regarding this stone.

Origin: Setagawa-ishi. Shiga prefecture, Japan.

Daiza: Carved in Japan from rosewood, the quality of the carving is good. Fixed to the underside is the 'mon' (family crest) of Chuji Sugii, something he did to identify the suiseki in his collection. The mon depicts Paulownia leaves.

Chuji Sugii (1930-2007): Born in Tateyama City, Chiba and was Chairman of Sugii Kogyosho, a manufacturer of cardboard containers. He was introduced to suiseki in 1966 by Arishige Matsuura, the past President of the Nippon Suiseki Association and learned about the art under Teiichi Katayama of Ichiu-kai and received the penname “Utei”. Sugii became an instructor of the Katayama style Keido (a way of display), and was also Advisor to the Nippon Suiseki Association. He was an important suiseki collector who exhibited his stones at the major exhibitions and was active from the mid-Showa to the Heisei Period and is well known by collectors in Japan.

A big thank you to Dave Sampson for supplying a great stone and for providing the background history, thanks Dave. 

As with all the images on my blog, just click on them to enlarge.