Excavated from Kiln No. 36, Kurozasa, Miyoshi City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
8th century
Height 21.5cm, mouth diameter 6.5cm, body diameter 16.0cm, bottom diameter 9.2cm
Important Cultural Property
Honda Collection
This is a representative example of early ash-glazed pottery from the Sanage kiln. Although it is called a multibellied jar or multibellied bottle, it does not seem to be related to the many multibellied jars found in Chinese ceramics.
The many Yuezhong ware of polychrome glazed vases flourished during the Northern Song dynasty and there are no examples that date back to the Tang dynasty. This piece is dated to the latter half of the 8th century. Therefore, it should be interpreted as a continuation of the tradition of Sue ware with child-molded decoration that has existed since the Kofun period.
The shoulder spout is similar to that of a jubin, suggesting that it was made as a type of Buddhist ritual vessel. This piece shows excellent shaping using a sharp water wheel, and is from the period of the greatest development of wheel throwing techniques in the history of Japanese ceramics. There are black spots on the neck and green ash glaze from the shoulder to a part of the body. Although it is controversial whether the ash glaze is artificial or natural, the Sanage kiln had already started the technique of consciously applying natural ash fall in the late 8th century, and this piece should also be considered to be artificially ash-glazed based on its glaze tone.
