The founder, Yoshikawa Tsunekata, was born on May 6th, 1883 in Toricho, Iyo Matsuyama, as the eldest son of Yoshikawa Bakotsu (pseudonym), a Kano school artist. Since childhood, he has been dedicated to painting, but also very fond of pottery. When he was 20, he discovered good-quality potter’s clay in Kinuyama, a western suburb in Matsuyama. “I want to express paintings in more dimensions,” said Tsunekata. He built a kiln in the garden in earnest, and founded his hobby kiln, Suigetsu ware.
He perfected the theme of Suigetsu ware, which was a lively crab, in 1921, after getting a red-clawed crab that had red claws and a red shell, and observing its habitat.
Tsunekata put effort into researching sculpting, which led him to getting familiar with various subjects. Those included plants and animals, Buddha statues like Kannon, Fudo, and Rakkan, as well as characters like Hanshan and Shide, and Gama Sennin. This superior skillset led him to produce many pottery masterpieces. In 1978, Tsunekata passed away at the ripe old age of 95
After Tsunekata passed away, his only apprentice, Koetsu, succeeded Suigetsu ware for the second generation. Koetsu had been Tsunekata’s partner in his final years, and lived with him for 10 years. He also trained under Tsunekata day and night. Koetsu put his passion in each and every step, and produced good, detailed pieces. He put all his effort into Suigetsu ware and produced pottery, while respecting the will and direction of the founder, Tsunekata. However, he closed the kiln due to old age.
