Height 16.3cm, mouth diameter 18.5cm, bottom diameter 14.5cm
The upper and lower portions of the body are hooped, and the outside is decorated with a stripe pattern showing the surface of the wood. This is a unique and highly artistic Bizen sui-jigashi, and it has been in the possession of Rikyu since ancient times. If this highly artistic water jar belonged to Rikyu, who died in Tensho 19, it can be said that Bizen ware during the Tensho period was already showing a highly technical style. However, since similar examples are extremely rare, it should be regarded as a special case. According to “Nanbo Roku,” Rikyu used a “Yafure Oke mizusashi” for a tea ceremony held at noon on September 13, Tensho 15 to welcome Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was later handed down to the Kaga Maeda family, and is described in the “Chado Meikiki Mokuroku” as “Rikyu’s possession, Ippatsu Oke Matsudaira Hizen no Mamoru,” and in the “Sanzoku Meimonocho” this water jar is described as “Nanban Noren no Te Matsudaira Kaga no Mamoru’s possession. Its burnished skin resembles that of a water jar made of nanban rotenoren (bamboo blind), which is probably why it was described as such.
It appears that a part of the hoop was scraped off after firing, and the reddish appearance of the hoop is a fitting scene for the name of a “broken bucket”. The inside of the barrel is also reddish brown, as if the barrel had been fired under a fire. The bottom half of the barrel is also covered with ashes, and there are traces of rice husks on the skin of the clay, which may have adhered to the bottom after it was drained.
The black lacquered lid is attached to the box, and a note on the back of the outer box lid states that it was crafted by Goro HANEDA. On the front of the tame-nuri box lid, there is an inscription in silver powder script that reads, “Water jar, broken bucket,” but the author is said to be Kobori Enshu. It was handed down to the Maeda family for a long time.
