Height 5.4 cm, mouth diameter 18.3 x 30.3 cm, bottom diameter 12.0 x 20.9 cm
This is a bow used to ward off evil spirits.
It is also written “Yumahama” in Japanese. It refers to a bow used to drive away evil spirits.
It is not clear why such a design was favored for Ko-Imari colored plates, but it may have been a New Year’s dish to meet the demand of the warrior class.
The design is a unique combination of a bow with arrows and a vertical tie pattern.
The ground is filled in with a dyed-in-the-water coloring, which is truly beautiful and gives the entire piece a lustrous color tone.
The reverse side is decorated on three sides with a Sou-nosho pattern in underglaze blue, and the base is covered with a kushime pattern.
This is the best of the four or five Yumihama dishes we have seen.
