天命霰釜てんみょうあられがま

  • 栃木県・佐野市
  • 桃山時代
  • 16-17c
  • 鋳鉄製
  • H-21.4 D-22
解説(春の玉手箱)

 天命釜は下野国佐野庄天命(栃木県佐野市)の産といわれる。芦屋釜が地紋に重点を置いたのとは対照的に天命釜は、肌の荒々しさを侘びた風情として生かしたものが多い。
 この釜も霰が不揃いで羽落ちも厚く侘びており、天命の特徴を表している。鐶付は松笠で桃山時代以降に見られるデザインであり、釜全体も松笠または芋頭のようで、小形ながら印象的な強さを持っている。

Catalogue Entry

So‐called Tenmyo kettles were made in Tenmyo, Sa‐no‐sho, Shimotsuke no kuni (present‐day Sano city, Tochigi prefecture). While Ashiya kettles were famous for their decorative patterns, by contrast, the Tenmyo kettles were known primarily for their rough, more rustic austerity.

This kettle has uneven hail‐stone patterns and a thick flange, revealing the austere characteristics of Tenmyo style. The holes for attaching handles are formed in a pine‐cone design seen in Momoyama and later periods, and this kettle overall looks like either a pine cone or a potato, strong and powerful in spite of its small scale.