Accessories: Box (unfinished paulownia wood); Inscription by Matsudaira Fumai
Dimensions
Height: 11.6 cm; Mouth diameter: 5.6 cm (inner), 6.9 cm (outer); Body diameter: 12.3 cm; Base diameter: 10.3 cm; Weight: 1,010 g
Recorded in: Unshu Zōchō
This Shigaraki “Uzukumaru” is clearly a utilitarian vessel used by farmers, intended to be placed by the well or in the kitchen, with its narrow neck tied with a thin rope to hold salt or grain seeds.
To regard such a humble object as worthy of note and to include it in his collection with an accompanying inscription, Matsudaira Fumai truly was a great tea master.
The primary distinction between Shigaraki and Iga is that the clay, mixed with small stones, is not as reddish as that of Iga, but rather closer to a dark brown. The glazing also has a brownish tint.
As a flower vase for wabi-cha, there is likely no other object that so perfectly embodies the spirit of tea. Fumai purchased this piece, which had been in the possession of Hirozawa Niemon in Kyoto, from Fushimiya for thirty ryō, inscribed it, and recorded it in the “Unshū Zōchō.”
