red-brown jar with mottled ochre colored glaze around shoulder and down one side; four bow-like decorations around shoulder; short, vertical neck

Tea leaf storage jar, late 16th century

Unknown Japaneseexpand_more

Bizen ware; stoneware with natural ash glaze and straw fire marks around mouthexpand_more

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundationexpand_more  2015.79.282

On View in Gallery 224expand_more

This sturdy jar was used to store dried tea leaves before they were ground into powder for use in the tea ceremony. Its high neck was designed to accommodate a stopper that would have been lashed to the vessel with a cord threaded through the four lugs (loops). In the kiln, ash from the fire landed on the shoulders of the vessel and liquefied in the intense heat, creating natural glaze. The high iron content of Bizen clay determines the reddish-brown color of the jar and also causes the naturally greenish glaze to turn yellow, an effect known as gomayū or “sesame seed glaze.”

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Details
Title
Tea leaf storage jar
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2015.79.282
Catalogue Raisonne
Murase, Art through a Lifetime, no. 589
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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red-brown jar with mottled ochre colored glaze around shoulder and down one side; four bow-like decorations around shoulder; short, vertical neck

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