Richard Milgrim 2004 Exhibition

On the occasion of his second exhibition at the Mitsukoshi main Store Nibombashi in Tokyo in September 2004, Richard Milgrim chose to include a selection of his newest works created in America. After experimenting with various clays and glazes as well as firings over the past 4 years, he finally began to develop a new pallette of unique colors that feel conducive to use in Chanoyu in combination with traditional Japanese tea ceramics. He enthusiastically presented this new body of work in Tokyo in hopes that others would see the potential that they hold for expanding the boundaries of tea wares in the 21st century.

Most of these new American glaze ware pieces were made in his studio in Concord, Massachusetts, about 40 miles from Boston, a community settled about the time of the late Momoyama period. The wood-fired pieces were made in rural Minnesota with local clay and brought to life in the Johanna Kiln there, built by Milgrim’s good friend, Richard Bresnahan, who studied in Karatsu in the mid-70s.

The balance of the exhibition featured his full range of “classic” styles (variations of Shino, Oribe, Black Seto, Seto, Yellow Seto, Korean Karatsu, and his distinctive Black and White glaze combinations), recently fired at Richardo-Gama in the hills of central Kyoto Prefecture. Please enjoy looking at these works not only as individual creations but also imagining them in combination with other works as well.