Hamanaka Gesson (Japanese, born 1943). Dish in the Shape of a Leaf, Part of a Set of 6. Glazed stoneware, 5 × 13 × 20 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Susan L. Beningson in memory of Leslie Beller, 2017.28.1 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Hamanaka Gesson (Japanese, born 1943). Dish in the Shape of a Leaf, Part of a Set of 6. Glazed stoneware, 4.5 × 14 × 18.3 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Susan L. Beningson in memory of Leslie Beller, 2017.28.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Hamanaka Gesson (Japanese, born 1943). Dish in the Shape of a Leaf, Part of a Set of 6. Glazed stoneware, 5 × 12 × 21 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Susan L. Beningson in memory of Leslie Beller, 2017.28.3 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Hamanaka Gesson (Japanese, born 1943). Dish in the Shape of a Leaf, Part of a Set of 6. Glazed stoneware, 4 × 12.5 × 20 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Susan L. Beningson in memory of Leslie Beller, 2017.28.4 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Hamanaka Gesson (Japanese, born 1943). Dish in the Shape of a Leaf, Part of a Set of 6. Glazed stoneware, 5.2 × 13.4 × 20.5 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Susan L. Beningson in memory of Leslie Beller, 2017.28.5 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Hamanaka Gesson (Japanese, born 1943). Dish in the Shape of a Leaf, Part of a Set of 6. Glazed stoneware, 5 × 13 × 20 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Susan L. Beningson in memory of Leslie Beller, 2017.28.6 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

From a set of six dishes, each hand-formed and hand-glazed for different shapes and surface effects. Each dish is oblong, formed from a flat slab of clay, curved and cut on a bias to create serrated edges, mimicking a leaf. Hagi-style glaze, with a blush of pink and slight bluish undertones, is applied to most of the surface. A small area of unglazed buff-colored clay is left exposed on one of the long sides, with iron brown glaze loosely brushed or dabbed onto that surface. The group arrived in a signed and sealed wood storage box.

Hamanaka Gesson is a master ceramicist based in Hagi, the same historical pottery region where Kaneta Masanao works. Like his contemporaries, Hamanaka experiments with traditional materials and new shapes. The blush of pink in the glaze on this dish can be found on many Hagi ceramics, but the iron-brown decoration is more reminiscent of Oribe wares. Hamanaka creates sets of small dishes like this, in which no two are the same. They can be used in kaiseki meals and tea ceremonies, where the variations in form and decoration are appreciated and discussed by participants.