This piece is a stemmed glass cup by Kaoru Okawa (1940–2008), who worked at Hokuyo Glass, a glassworks in Aomori Prefecture, while also presenting his own works as an independent artist. The underside of the stem bears the incised signature “K. OKAWA.” The body, made of blue-green glass with a frosted matte finish, is decorated with gold-tone foil combined with dots of white glass. Measuring approximately 5.5 cm in height and 7.3 cm in rim diameter, it sits comfortably in the hand and is well suited for use as a Japanese-style shot glass for savoring aged spirits a little at a time.
According to his reported biography, Mr. Okawa was born in Niigata Prefecture in 1940, studied craft design at Musashino Art University, and joined Hokuyo Glass in Aomori City in 1964. Hokuyo Glass began in 1949 as a maker of glass fishing floats. Building on the free-blowing (chūbuki) technique developed through float making, the company created Tsugaru Vidro in 1977, a line of handmade glass expressing the four seasons and natural landscapes of Aomori. Tsugaru Vidro was also the first product to be designated a traditional craft of Aomori Prefecture. From 1980 onward, Mr. Okawa presented his work in solo exhibitions and glass exhibitions in various parts of Japan. According to the official records of Aomori Prefecture, he received the 11th Aomori Prefecture Art and Culture Award in the crafts category for fiscal year Showa 60 (1985). He is further reported to have won the Grand Prize in Section 1 of the Tohoku Glass Art Exhibition, sponsored by Asahi Glass, in 1990, and the Asahi Glass Prize at the 1st Japan Glass Art Exhibition in 1991. In 2006 he served as an adviser to the company, and he passed away in 2008.
Mr. Okawa’s style is distinguished by the way he incorporated glassmaking techniques from abroad on a foundation of glassblowing. In particular, his tea ceremony utensils, in which he adapted millefiori, the mosaic glass technique handed down on the Venetian island of Murano, in his own distinctive way, are introduced as representative of his work. He also produced many works on the theme of the natural scenery of the Tsugaru region. This piece does not employ millefiori mosaic decoration. It is an example in which the surface is composed of gold-tone foil and white glass dots, and it demonstrates the breadth of his decorative expression.
The vessel takes the form of a bajohai, or stem cup, with a rounded, fairly deep cup supported on a short, thick, solid stem. The rim is finished thick and rounded, curving slightly inward. The stem is of frosted clear glass, widening gently toward its base and giving the cup a solid, steady presence. The exterior of the cup has a matte finish with subdued luster, and within the blue-green ground, streaks of pale green flow diagonally, so that the depth of color shifts with the viewing angle. The gold-tone foil spreads like a haze of fine particles near the rim, while from the lower body to the top of the stem it becomes larger fragments broken into a fine network of cracks, gathering densely around the stem. Over this, white glass dots of various sizes rise from the surface. The dots are irregular in shape, some round, some oval, some joined in twos and threes, and they are scattered most thickly over the lower half of the body. On some of the dots, flakes of gold-tone foil remain on the surface, and these details where white and gold overlap are a further highlight. Unlike the exterior, the interior has a glossy surface, through which the shimmer of the foil and the white dots can be seen. When light falls on the cup, the foil glitters with a greenish gold, and a scene resembling a swirl spiraling toward the center of the bottom appears. The underside of the stem is finished flat, and the signature is incised there.
The piece bears no date. It is a work bearing the artist’s personal signature, made between 1980, when he began presenting his work in solo and glass exhibitions, and his death in 2008. Documentation on Mr. Okawa is limited even within Japan, and his work has received almost no attention overseas. This stem cup, combining gold-tone foil and white glass dots on frosted blue-green glass, is a piece of documentary value for understanding his work.
- Artist: Kaoru Okawa (大川 薫, 1940–2008)
- Selected Career Highlights: [1964] Joined Hokuyo Glass, [1980 onward] Exhibited in solo exhibitions and glass exhibitions in various parts of Japan, [1985] 11th Aomori Prefecture Art and Culture Award (Crafts, fiscal year Showa 60), [1990] Grand Prize, Section 1, Tohoku Glass Art Exhibition (sponsored by Asahi Glass), [1991] Asahi Glass Prize, 1st Japan Glass Art Exhibition (sponsored by Asahi Glass), [2006] Adviser to Hokuyo Glass
- Date: Between 1980 and 2008 (estimated)
- Condition: Good (no chips, no cracks)
- Included: None
- Medium: Glass (metal foil decoration)
- Dimensions: Height approx. 5.5 cm, rim diameter approx. 7.3 cm
- Remarks: Incised signature “K. OKAWA” on the underside of the stem
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