Page 317 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

240 Jar nearby Uji were packed for presentation to
Shigaraki ware the shogunate. With the resulting base of
h. 27.5(103/4) economic support, the kilns prospered
Muromachi period, throughout the Edo period, during which
i5th-i6th century time they produced an expanded reper-
toire of mostly glazed utilitarian objects.
Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka The unpretentious qualities of Shi-
Prefecture
garaki wares that came to be appreciated
The rustic stoneware vessels of the Shi- by tea men are evident in this Muromachi-
garaki kilns (in present-day Shiga Prefec- period tsubo. Its shape is simple, broaden-
ture), like those of Bizen and other similar ing from a flat base to a bulging shoulder,
kilns in the medieval era, were then tapering to a narrow neck and evert-
utilitarian—tsubo (jars), kame (wide- ing again at the mouth. The incised pat-
mouthed jars), and suribachi (grating tern of cross-hatching between two
bowls). In the late fifteenth century, the parallel lines at the shoulder is a distinctive
early tea master Murata Shuko (1423-1502) Shigaraki motif, especially on smaller jars.
judged Shigaraki jars to be, in combination Three parallel horizontal lines, the Japa-
with fine imported objects, appropriate for nese character for the numeral three,
use in the tea ceremony. Shigaraki wares etched just above the decoration on two
were the first native Japanese ceramics, sides of the jar, are thought to be some
along with those of Bizen, to be so em- kind of kiln mark.
braced. They came to be used in the wabi The firing effects characteristic of
form of tea, which was based on the inno- Shigaraki wares are evident. The body is
vations of Shukó and refined during the stippled with white grains of feldspar
sixteenth century by Takeno Jóó (1502- present in the Shigaraki clay and drawn to
1555) and then Sen no Rikyü (1522-1591). As the surface by the heat of the kiln. Small
traced through contemporary tea journals, holes are left by other feldspar particles
the most typical Shigaraki component of that have melted away, an effect known in
the range of tea utensils was the mizusashi Japanese as ishihaze, or "stone-burst." The
(fresh water container), though kensui kiln fires also induced the scorched color-
(waste water jars) and hanaire (flower con- ing and the thin coat of natural wood ash
tainers) were also used. Most of these ves- glaze, which partially covers the vessel,
sels were originally utilitarian, though by running down past the shoulder to the
the late sixteenth century pieces were be- middle of the body. From the late six-
ing made specifically for the tea context. teenth century, smaller versions of this
Among the users of Shigaraki wares type of jar were produced specifically
were leading military figures, including for use as flower containers in the tea
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) who used setting. AMW
a Shigaraki jar in 1583 at the festivities at-
tending the construction of Osaka Castle. 241 Sake flask
Katagiri Sekishü (1605-1673), the influen- Bizen ware
tial proponent of a formalized daimyo tea, h. 30.2(117/8)
used Shigaraki as did many daimyo, in- Momoyama period, early i7th century
cluding the Date clan of Sendai who were
steeped in the teachings of Sekishú and Okayama Prefectural Museum,
Furuta Oribe (1544-1615). Tsunamura Okayama Prefecture
(1659-1719), the fourth-generation Date The high-fired and unglazed wares of Bi-
daimyo, recorded in his tea diary the use zen and Shigaraki, esteemed for their aus-
of several Shigaraki pieces, both old and tere rusticity, were the first Japanese
new, some treasured and used repeatedly. ceramics to be deemed suitable for use in
The continued use of Shigaraki wares the tea context. From the mid-sixteenth
in tea was assured with the formalization century the potters of Bizen (in present-
of the Rikyú aesthetic of rustic simplicity day Okayama Prefecture) supplemented
by the master's grandson Sotan (1578- their production of utilitarian wares with
1658). Of even greater importance was the tea and tea-related objects, particularly
designation in 1632 of the Shigaraki kilns mizusashi (fresh water containers), hanaire
as producers of the "official" glazed tea (flower containers), and fine tablewares.
jars in which the famed leaves from While utilitarian wares changed little even
over long periods of time, tea wares
evolved according to current fashions.
Tokkuri, or sake flasks, were produced
in great quantity by the Bizen kilns in the
Momoyama period. In this example, clean
lines define the plump, barrel-shaped
body, thin neck, and crisply finished

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