Earthenware and Haniwa (H) - 土器と埴輪（H）

Earthenware and Haniwa (H) - 土器と埴輪（H） is a Japanese woodblock print by Toru Mabuchi that gathers two of his signature subjects, ancient Japanese pottery and the haniwa tomb figures of the Kofun period, into a single composition. Mabuchi returned repeatedly to these objects across his career, and prints like this one show why: the rounded, earthy forms of earthenware vessels and the simplified, schematic bodies of haniwa translate naturally into the Japanese woodblock medium, where carved outlines and lightly inked planes can convey both their weight and their dry, matte surfaces. The composition arranges the pieces with the deliberate spacing that runs through Mabuchi's still lifes, allowing each object to read as a distinct form while contributing to the overall balance of the picture. As a [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) (creative print) artist, Mabuchi designed, carved, and printed his own blocks, and the unity of his approach is on display here: the same hand that drew the contours of the haniwa also cut them, and the inking has the slight unevenness that signals careful hand printing rather than commercial reproduction. The 'H' designation in the title suggests a variant within a related group of earthenware-and-haniwa compositions. The print is documented through [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e).org via the Ohmi Gallery archive (010662), a standard reference source for Showa-era Japanese woodblock prints. For collectors interested in how postwar artists engaged with Japan's pre-Buddhist material culture, Toru Mabuchi's earthenware and haniwa prints are among the clearest examples available.