Kutani (“nine valleys”) is a small village in Kaga Province on the northwest coast of the main island of Japan with a long history of porcelain production. In 1823 the Yoshidaya Kilns were established at the site of an earlier Kutani kiln which had long since ceased production. Wares produced at this kiln were patterned after the Old Kutani wares and are known as Revival Kutani (“Saiko Kutani”) or as Yoshidaya wares (“Yoshidaya Yaki”). Many pieces produced by this kiln are very well potted with beautiful coloring, clearly showing a Chinese influence.

Always an important symbol of strength and courage in Chinese art, the tiger was considered supreme among the land beasts and was credited with the ability to fend off demons and ill fortune. In Japan, where the tiger (“tora”) was not indigenous, early beliefs regarding the animal followed the mold of China. Because tigers were only seen occasionally in traveling menageries in Japan, their representation in Japanese art was often less than realistic. Whatever the inspiration behind this artistic treatment of tigers, pre-modern Japanese artists generally depicted them in a highly stylized manner. This resulted in paintings and ceramics which portrayed an entire race of animals with somewhat unusual or exaggerated features, appearing more cat-like or even shishi-like than the potentially ferocious beasts they are.

For centuries, Bizen has been highly regarded for its dark red-brown stoneware made from iron-rich clay with a natural ash glaze. Bizen pottery is unglazed but fired at such a high a temperature that a natural glaze is formed on the surface. Also upon firing, wood ash flies up in the kiln and is deposited randomly on the pottery, giving each piece its own individuality and vitality. “Okimono” is the generic name for Japanese decorative objects which have no utilitarian function but are merely created to please the eye. They are usually of ceramic or metal, and most frequently represent animals, birds or human figures. (See “Bizen Okimono” by Robert L. Yellin in DARUMA 31.) It is quite rare to find Bizen ware figures of tigers.

Shino ware (“shino yaki”) is a type of Japanese pottery most identifiable for its thick milky-white glazes, red scorch marks and the texture of small holes. Originally developed in the late 16th century and produced in kilns in the Seto and Mino areas of Gifu Prefecture, Shino yaki was Japan’s first high-fired white-glazed pottery. The glaze, composed primarily of ground local feldspar and ash, produced a satiny white color. Mino ceramic te-aburi in rabbit form are found in important private and museum collections of Japanese folk ceramics, including the Morse collection in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, and in the Jeffrey Montgomery Collection, widely considered to be the most important trove of Japanese folk art outside of Japan.

A te-aburi is a personal-size hand warmer, smaller than a conventional hibachi. The lower part of the warmer was filled with ash on which a few small, glowing pieces of charcoal were placed, thus heating the surrounding pottery walls. During the Meiji period, in homes where such luxuries could be afforded, custom demanded that whenever a visitor arrived in winter, the first act of hospitality would be to set a small personal warmer next to the guest to provide comfort in an otherwise unheated reception room. Te-aburi were made to be used by one of two persons at most. Even when unheated, this particular brazier projects a feeling of warmth because the maker created it in the form of a plump rabbit.

The rabbit or hare (“usagi”) is one of the twelve zodiac animals. Prior to modern times, it was fashionable in Japan to display or use some household object depicting the zodiac animal for the current year as a kind of talisman to ward off evil spirits and invite good fortune. When the Japanese look at the full moon, they see the figure of a rabbit rather than the face of the West’s “man in the moon.” According to Chinese Taoist legend, this is a white rabbit pounding out the elixir of immortality with a mortar and pestle.

Oribe ware, a folk pottery produced in kilns located in Mino and Seto, is particularly Japanese in taste and was never made for export. Its bold and spontaneous designs and contours were generally asymmetrically executed in styles that were distinct, imaginative and vigorous. Oribe pottery derives its name from Furuta Oribe, a famous 16th century tea master. His influence over the pottery production of his day led to the development of a certain type of ware that was later named after him, nearly all relating in some way to the tea ceremony.

For centuries, Bizen has been highly regarded for its dark red-brown stoneware made from iron-rich clay with a natural ash glaze. Bizen is unglazed but fired at such a high a temperature that a natural glaze is formed on the surface. Also upon firing, wood ash flies up in the kiln and is deposited randomly on the pottery, giving each piece its own individuality and vitality. The beauty inherent in the unglazed, red-brown clay forms was often left untouched, giving the vessels the luster of burnished bronze. The height Bizen pottery was attained in the 18th century, and specimens from that period are much finer than subsequent works.

This important tokkuri is ex. collection R. B. Caldwell of Dallas, TX, a collector well known for his knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture, particularly in the area of tea ceremony ceramics.

Actually, Karatsu is not one ware, but the stoneware products of several different kilns in western Japan, all of which were shipped through the port of Karatsu. From the earliest times this port had been a point of contact between Japan and the Asian continent, and it was here that Korean influences poured into Japan in the late 16th century. Though made at kilns adjacent to the refined, decorated porcelain production area of northern Kyushu, Karatsu ware never lost the vigor or the original Korean stoneware from which it descended. These wares showed many of the features which the Japanese had found appealing in earlier imported Korean ceramics. Looseness and spontaneity of form, texture and color of body, and subtlety of glaze were the admired qualities, all of which are well exemplified in this piece.