Kawai Kanjiro was as important a potter as his contemporary and close friend, Hamada Shoji. Unlike Hamada, however, he refused all official honours and never travelled to the West. Inspired by the works of Bernard Leach, whom he met in 1911, he studied with Hamada Shoji at Tokyo Technical College and went with Hamada to the Kyoto Ceramics Research Institute. Kawai, who was famous for his mastery of glaze techniques, assimilated influences from Chinese, Korean and Japanese ceramics as well as the English slipware tradition.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, June 2005.

Source:

Art Gallery of NSW