Black Vessel (Kuroi utsuwa)

A dark vessel, perhaps a bowl, vase, or container, occupies the center of this 1959 color woodblock print, the twentieth and final impression in an edition of twenty. The Japanese subtitle (Kuroi utsuwa) names the object with straightforward precision: black vessel. Mabuchi reduces the container to its essential curved form, using the darkness of the vessel's surface as a compositional anchor against lighter surroundings. The limited edition of just twenty impressions signals that Mabuchi valued quality over distribution, maintaining close control over each printed impression. As a sosaku-hanga artist who carved and printed his own blocks, each impression in the edition bears the direct touch of the artist's hand rather than a commercial printer's interpretation.