Japan, ca. 1980s. An attractive ceramic bottle vase by Tatsuzō Shimaoka (1919-2007). Features square stoneware construction with pale green ash glaze over herringbone pressed cord design. Alternating round medallions are filled with expressive painted decoration. A mingei, or Japanese folk art, potter, Shimaoka studied under Hamada Shōji and eventually became the second Living National Treasure of Mashiko, Japan. Impressed maker's mark to underside. Condition is excellent.

This style of pottery, referred to as Mingei Jomon Zogan, is an homage to the rope-impressed earthenware of the Jomon Period (6000 BC to 300 BC). A similar style of Shimaoka plates are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A lovely and collectible example of the artist's work.

Dimensions: 3.25” wide x 3.25” deep x 7.5” high.