NAKASHIMA Hiroshi

Dates: 1941–2018

Nakashima (or Nakajima) Hiroshi was born in Takeo-shi, Saga Prefecture, and established his own kiln on the site of an ancient Yumino kiln in 1969. He was also accepted into the Nihon Dento Kogeiten (Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition) for the first time that year; he would win his first prize – the Encouragement Award – at the same exhibition in 1977. In 1981 he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize at the Nishi Nihon Togeiten (West Japan Ceramic Exhibition). This was followed by a Japan Ceramics Society Award in 1983 (he would be awarded their gold prize in 2006). He was recognized as a Living National Treasure in 2007.

Nakashima specialized in the notoriously difficult art of celadon pottery – a technique that originated in China, creating wares with a

delicate, transparent grey-green glaze. This colour, for Nakashima, was a ‘climate colour’, encapsulated mountains, rivers and air. He visited

China in 1985 to study local ceramics and to participate in excavation work at ancient kiln sites, and his work was based on the celadon ware produced during the Song dynasty, as well as the forms of Chinese bronze vessels dating back to the Han and Tang dynasties. Nakashima exhibited his work worldwide, and it is now found in the permanent collections of the British Museum and the Portland Art Museum.

Works

2 works

Works from past exhibitions

1 work

Shown in

Publications

2025Mingei, Showa, Gutai – from tradition to innovation – Japanese art of the modern era – TEFAF 2025