Height 6.5 cm, mouth diameter 30.0 cm, base diameter 14.0 cm
Tokyo National Museum
This is a very different type of shakudara from the Okawachi ware, which was completed between the Enpo and Genroku periods, and was probably fired at the Minamikawara kiln, the second phase of the Nabeshima domain kilns.
The mouth of this dish does not have the gentle warp of the Okawachi kiln’s shaku plates, and it is wide and flat, with a bell-shaped mouth rim that rises shallowly. The base of the dish is carved high, which is characteristic of Nabeshima ware, but it is slightly thicker in general, and the base is distorted into an incorrect circle, probably due to the fact that it was not fired unglazed but rather fired over a raw firing process.
The circular shape of the prospective base is depicted with two small birds resting on an oak tree in solid brush strokes of underglaze blue, yellow, and green overglaze enamels, which are fired to a strong color tone. The favoritism around the rim is also rare among Nabeshima wares, and it is likely that this pattern was created precisely because this is an old Nabeshima ware. The peony arabesque with flowers on the four sides and the sword-tip lotus petal design on the side of the base are also depicted spontaneously and vigorously, and the color is slightly darkened, perhaps due to the raw firing process. Overall, the work is full of vigor rather than elegance, and is unprecedented even for an old potter’s wheel. Of course, it was made before the Enpo era. It is part of the Hirota Collection donated to the Tokyo National Museum.
