Good condition.
The artwork shows some minor soiling in certain areas as a result of its age.

Born in Hyogo Prefecture to the head of the Misho-ryu school of Ikebana, Araki Takako (1921-2004) is one of post-war Japan's leading female ceramic sculptors. She began her career as a ceramic artist surprisingly late, studying sculpture at the Art Students League of New York when she moved to the USA in 1961. Still, she had already been actively involved in avant-garde art before studying at university, opening the Hakuho Gallery in Osaka, which provided a platform for young avant-garde artists in Kansai for four years. Araki's most signature works include the "Bible" series. She began working on this series after her elder brother died of tuberculosis in 1978, gaining high acclaim both domestically and internationally through this work.

Contrary to the deeply spiritual "Bible" series, this particular work is part of the Circle series composed solely of black ceramics. Utilizing a technique that embodies blackness through the production of carbon without using glaze, this black ceramic method was also noted by Yagi Kazuo of the avant-garde ceramics group Sodeisha at the time. Since presenting the first black ceramics in 1966, Araki continued this series until transitioning to the "Bible" series. This piece, strongly influenced by pioneering avant-garde ceramic artists, stands as a significant early work that showcases Araki's enduring confrontation with ceramics as a form of expression.