World-renown for his arresting forms in seihakuji porcelain, Fukami Sueharu’s work references not only the twentieth century–school of Japanese abstract ceramics and the sculpture of Italian ceramicist Carlo Zauli (1926–2002), but also the Chinese qingbai (“clear blue”) glaze, first developed at the Jingdezhen kilns in the eleventh century. In 1975, Fukami started to focus on perfecting a qingbai (known in Japanese as seihakuji) type glaze, traditionally noted for its subtle color gradations of icy blue, especially in areas of glaze pooling. Five years later, in 1980, the artist began developing his own high-pressure slip-casting technique, which involves casting the porcelain slip onto a mold using pressurized air. This ensures a precisely even thickness of clay, and therefore, much less chance of warping during firing. As is evident from this bowl’s beautifully balanced form, he has continued to refine this technique so as to leave no evidence of te-ato, or “traces of handling.”