Makoto Yabe top yunomi

An uncovered gem by a hidden treasure, this Makoto Yabe yunomi captures ancient tradition and modern aesthetic. Speckled oatmeal stoneware in a classic Japanese vessel form is splashed with abstract top patterns in amethyst and sea-green. The swirls continue to the inside of the cup, suggesting a unity between solid form and the contained space within.
Hand-inscribed with Yabe's stylized “Archer” figure.

Condition is excellent with no chips, cracks or repairs

Dimensions: Height 4in. Diameter 3 3/8in.


Makoto Yabe (1947-2005) was a Boston-based Japanese artist. While apprenticing in Japan, he found that his creative instincts were hemmed in by the strict adherence to tradition there. Said Yabe, “According to a Japanese proverb, nails that stick up are hammered down. Whenever I tried something new in Japan, I was hammered down. That's why I came to the US.”

Now freed to explore his own artistic path, he eventually came full circle and began to incorporate into his pots elements of the Wabi-sabi, the Japanese aesthetic that embraces the imperfect.

''Wabi-sabi objects aren't perfect, but when you look carefully at the details, you see beauty in the objects. It's quite different from the Western concept of beauty; it's asymmetrical and imperfect, because that's more like nature." Makoto Yabe

From the Pucker Gallery, Boston:
“Makoto Yabe's work beautifully exemplifies the transmission of Japanese ceramics to the West. Born in Fukushima, Japan, Yabe began studying ceramics in Kyoto at the age of nine. He completed his training at the age of 24, with a four-year apprenticeship under Jinmatsu Uno and Sango Uno. Yabe then came to Boston, where he was an integral member of the local ceramic community, yet he maintained his Japanese roots. As an instructor of ceramics, Yabe worked in the Boston area at numerous schools and universities, touching the lives of all his students and expanding their knowledge and appreciation of studio ceramics.”

Yabe has been featured in Ceramics Monthly and his work is in museums and private collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Denver and Cleveland Art Museums