Storage jar

Japan

Not on view

Beginning in the late Heian period, the Echizen kilns in central Japan produced sankinko jars and small bottles. This jar may have fallen over during firing, acquiring a blanket of uneven natural ash glaze, large cracks, and encrustations picked up from neighboring pots. Although it was probably never used, to the contemporary viewer it is an example of the simple beauty of random effects produced by a wood-fired kiln.

Storage jar, Stoneware with ash glaze (Echizen ware), Japan

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