A Shigaraki storage jar | Muromachi period, 15th century

London Gallery, Tokyo

Renowned for the peach-blossom colour of their clay bodies, the encrustations of the large quartz and feldspar grains which melt incompletely during the firing process gives Shigaraki ware its distinctive character. The exposed stoneware is covered in a natural ash-glaze, usually of a deep green to reddish brown, that is dripped over its rustic forms.

Located approximately thirty kilometres to the southeast of Kyoto, Shigaraki is regarded as one of the Six Ancient Kilns in Japan (Rokkoyo), initially producing practical and utilitarian wares dating back to the Kamakura period (1185-1333).

In the late Muromachi period (1336-1573), the kilns began to fire wares for the tea ceremony. Admired for their archaic shape and qualities, such wares were incorporated into the tea aesthetic advocated by Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), where they were repurposed as storage jars for tea leaves or vases to display ikebana in an alcove (tokonoma).