Two-color glazed ware: large dish.
8th century
Height 5.5cm, Bowl diameter 37.5cm, Bottom diameter 28.5cm
Shosoin
Shosoin has a total of ten large dishes, nine with Nisai of green and white and one with white glaze.
All of them are neatly made with a sharp wheel-thrown finish, and the base is made of eggshell-colored clay. Four of the Nisai green and white platters, including this one, are rather thick-walled and deep, while the other five (as shown in Figure 5) are thin-walled shallow dishes. The patterns on the former are applied to the entire inner surface, while those on the latter are applied only to the side rim.
The bottom of this dish is slightly bowed inward. The inner surface appears to be covered with white glaze in the shape of a deer’s egg pattern, but in terms of technique, the design consists of a series of deep arcs applied on different levels from the mouth rim to the center of the vessel. On the outer surface, arcs are arranged in three different steps only on the side rim. The glaze has uneven shading, but it is well melted and runs down, giving it a bright green color. There are three marks on the interior and exterior surfaces from repeated firing.
