Two irregular round masses in black each are about the size that just fills the palm of a hand. In order to create the snouts, the artist pinched these masses slightly in the upper part. Ears, eyes, and noses are expressed through incised lines, as are the whiskers. As indicated by the title Black Pottery Mice, this endearing small effort shows two mice, playing on the contrast between large and small. The objects are hollow, with a small hole in the bottom. One effect is that despite the black appearance, suggesting a certain weight and mass, the objects feel surprisingly light when held in one’s hand. It is as if they would once more start running around at any given moment. 

For the title, Yagi used a character for the word “mouse” that is specific to the Chinese zodiac and calendar (note that the character means both “mouse” and “rat”; in the English language, the corresponding year is rendered as “Year of the Rat”). It seems only natural to assume that the artist was inspired by so-called Fushimi doll pottery or the ceramic bells in Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, which are often employed for decoration according to the corresponding year in the Chinese calendar. However, Yagi neither just paints the motif on top of the object nor does he only throw in the necessary attributes to have these mice become recognizable, but he approaches the work with a genuinely sculptural attitude. It is noteworthy how he treats the subject matter to fit into his own artistic approach. Hence, the interest lies in how Yagi adopts a topic of such cultural conventionality and still manages to make them almost excessively “Yagi-esque.” By coincidence, the present year 2020 is a Year of the Rat as well. During the period when Yagi created the Black Pottery, the Year of the Rat occurred twice in 1960 (exactly sixty years ago, or one full sexagenary cycle) and twelve years later in 1972. From the condition of the inscription on the box, the former appears more likely; moreover, one may assume that if Yagi wanted have the work ready in 1960, he perhaps made it some time in late 1959.

Regarding Yagi’s works of that kind, one cannot help but think of fellow Sodeisha artist Suzuki Osamu’s Palm-sized Clay Figures series. These are made from a portion of clay that fits the size of a hand, which Suzuki then would shape into chord-like forms to work with, in the end usually providing a lyrical title. This is not to say that Yagi just followed the same approach. Suzuki contrasted abstract form with his titles, that is, he supplemented form—liberated from the need of utility—with poetic meaning, aiming to realize “pottery as poetry,” as he would call it. Yagi’s perspective is a different one, as he sought to perpetuate the notion of ceramics as a part of tradition and local customs, while at the same time infusing the art with his quest for creative expression.

Yagi Kazuo (ceramist; 1918–1979)
Ceramist from Kyoto. As a co-founder of Sodeisha (Crawling through Mud Association), Yagi was largely responsible for establishing and popularizing non-functional objets as a major category of postwar Japanese ceramic art. Working in Shigaraki clay for much of his career, Yagi later turned to “black pottery” (kokuto). He taught at the Kyoto City University of the Arts.