Height 8.6 cm, mouth diameter 13.6 cm, base diameter 6.1 cm
Goto Museum of Art
There are only about ten Nezumi-Shino tea bowls in the world, but this is probably the most ornately decorated of them all.
The small, tight base rises in a straight line from the base to the waist, and the mouth rim has a gentle mountain path shape, with carving around the outer edge and the waist to set the tone of the work. The underglaze “oni-ita” coating, characteristic of Nezumi-Shino, is applied over the entire prospective surface and around the outer rim, and the glazed surface from the rim to the edge of the base is white. The glaze on the body is well melted, but the oniita under the glaze is reddish-black and burnt, which may have given rise to the inscription “Mine Momiji” (peak leaves). The white glaze on the body is well melted, but the oniita under the body is burnt reddish black, which may have given it the name of “Mine Momiji” (Peak Momiji). It is estimated to be made in the kiln under the kiln of Ohgaya.
The silver-painted characters in the shape of “Mine Momiji” are attributed to Kobori Gonjuro Masayun. It was inherited by the Kuki family of Yokkaichi, and later came into the possession of Issei Hatakeyama, and then into the possession of Keita Goto, and was transferred to the Goto Museum of Art.
