Height 35.7cm, Bore 12.2cm, Bottom 12.9cm
Fukuoka City Museum of Art
This tea jar has the same shape as the “Tea Jar with Wisteria Flowers in Overglaze Enamels,” but it is a little larger and more generously shaped. However, the wheel throwing is somewhat rough. The white glaze that extends from the mouth to the bottom of the body is not as smooth as that of the tea jar with wisteria flowers in overglaze enamels, due to the unevenness of the glaze. The overglaze painting technique seems to be rather crude, although the design of Yoshino Mountain on the body is roughly represented in a spacious manner.
Thus, there is a considerable difference between this tea jar and “tea jar with wisteria flowers in overglaze enamels” or “tea jar with plum blossoms in overglaze enamels,” even though they are the same type of tea jar. The potter’s wheel and overglaze painting on this jar are both vigorous, but the roughness is noticeable, while Figure 1 is more elegant. The Yoshinoyama painting on the body seems to be the most outstanding among all the tea vases made by Ninsei, but the use of overglaze enamels shows inexperience and does not seem to be the work of a skilled overglaze artist.
Therefore, if we consider the tea jar with wisteria flowers in overglaze enamels and the tea jar with moon and plum blossoms in overglaze enamels to be examples from the period of completion, this tea jar, the “Tea Jar with Mountain Temple in Overglaze Enamels” and the “Tea Jar with Mustard in Overglaze Enamels” may have been early examples of tea jars in overglaze enamels by Ninsei. The flat bottom is stamped with the large seal of “Ninsei” on the left center as usual.
It is said to have once belonged to the Kyogoku family of Marugame, but later moved to the Irie family of the castle, and then to the collection of Matsunaga Yasuzaemon, which was transferred to the Matsunaga Memorial Museum, but is now in the Matsunaga Collection Room at the Fukuoka City Museum of Art.
