Cheek Armor Cup, Gan Form, Platinum

Chanoyu, the tea ceremony, developed as a comprehensive Japanese art tied to samurai refinement. Sake vessels developed as kaiseki tableware inheriting that lineage.
Koga describes this work as "a porcelain sake cup in the form of cheek armor, arrived at inevitably from the close ties among the tea ceremony, Sengoku warlords, and craft — ceramics in particular."

This piece is also inspired by Oda Nobunaga.
Drawing on his charisma and grim-reaper-like reputation, this work adopts the skull — a symbol of death — while imagining his appreciation for exotic, flower-like culture, with an eye also toward decorative quality.