Large Wide-mouthed Jar

Late Muromachi period, 16th century
Echizen ware, natural ash glaze
Height, 76.5cm; mouth diameter, 46.0-48.5cm;
torso diameter, 68.5cm; base diameter, 23.0-23.5cm

This is a splendid example of the type of large, wide-mouthed jars that were characteristic of the Echizen kilns in the late Muromachi period. The short, slightly flaring mouth-neck area shows traces of an N-shaped mouth rim in the protruding band that is just below the top edge of the mouth. The torso swells in a round form, and this type of jar with its largest diameter at the center of the form is indicative of a later period, albeit of a slightly older style. The jar is extremely well-fired, and half of the surface of the jar is covered in a flow of fresh green natural ash glaze that extends from the mouth edge to the lower half of the torso. The tips of these ash glaze rivulets turn a particularly striking range of indigo and brown colors.

Around this period, the Echizen kiln sites changed to production in large-scale ogama kilns and became the sites of mass production. These jars were marketed along the northern Japan Sea coast region, and this marked the beginning of the prosperous period of the Hokuriku region's only large-scale kiln center. SN