Shigemasa Higashida’s unusual path to ceramics started after a brief career in finance. Inspired elsewhere, he chose to follow his attraction to clay. At the age of 29 he enrolled in the renowned Gifu Prefecture Technical School in Tajimi to study ceramics.

While in Gifu Higashida absorbed the traditions of the region’s Mino wares, and while he has come to be known for his Oribe, he also produces Kiseto, Kuro-Oribe, and Shino.

In fact his ceramic “lineage” springs from the finest Japan has to offer. Higashida studied for a short time with Kato Kozo, who studied with Arakawa Toyozō - who revived Shino from its dormant 16th century roots. And Arakawa himself studied with Kitaōji Rosanjin, one of the greatest Japanese artists of the 20th century.

Higashida has become known for taking traditional forms and wares and reinterpreting them through his contemporary practice. This large Shino box is a nod to archaic vessels such as the bronze containers of the Zhou Dynasty which adopt the shapes of animals. This box’s rounded top and footed legs updates the form: it is abstracted into a squared - almost cubist - shape, like a creature caught in the act of transition.

And the mystery is deepened further with a soft, creamy-pink glaze. The signature cloud-like texture of Shino softens the box’s angles resulting in a ghostly appearance. Higashida evokes historic wares, from ancient forms to 16th century Mino ware and its 20th century revival, and recombines them through his 21st century practice.

Comes with the signed, stamped, and titled wood box, stamped wrapping cloth, and CV.