Stoneware water jar or mizusashi for use in the tea ceremony, to store the fresh water needed to replenish the water in the kettle.
Round bottom developing into a diamond shape towards the top of the jug. Greyish smooth stoneware, decorated with horizontal grooves, covered with brown iridescent, satin-shine glaze on the outside and with a mottled greenish-yellow glaze on the inside, dripping over the outer edge and down.
Black lacquered, diamond-shaped cover.
Takatori ware, Japan, Meiji era, early 1900s
H without cover 5¾ in.; with cover 6½ in.
Jar in fine condition, cover with 2 chips.
Takatori wares have been made in northern Kyushu since the early seventeenth century. During the Edo period, nine generations of Takatori potters worked for the Kuroda daimyo family, making refined ceramics with a particular focus on wares for the tea ceremony. This tradition has continued into the modern era.
