Japanese ceramics. (Books About Antiques).

Japanese collectors have an almost mystical feeling for their ceramics, associating them first and foremost with the earth from which they sprang. Consider, for example, this passage about one of the sites where white-glazed pottery was first made in Japan, during the Momoyama period (1573-1615). "Each time I visit the old kiln sites at Mino I am deeply moved. I envision the potters going back and forth bearing loads of firewood. I can imagine their joy when the kiln is ready to be unloaded, and even more their despair if the firing proved a failure. Deep in the mountains of Mino things are as they have always been. In the spring the plum trees blossom, and violets bloom along the paths. In summer, the irises and water lilies are out. In autumn, the pampas grass plumes appear just about the time the bush clover is puffing out its graceful flowers, and the wild grapes are turning color. Persimmons have been strung to dry from the eaves of a mountain house; their shadows are silhouetted on the translucent shoji screens. In winter, if a wood thrush comes to pay a call, it is caught in a fine mesh bird net. All of these subjects were given lively expression at the hands of the potters who decorated Shino and Oribe ware."

Shino and Oribe wares are the subjects of this book by two Japanese ceramics scholars, and the examples they have illustrated are indeed decorated with the blooms and birds found in the countryside outside the kiln, albeit they are sometimes rendered in such shorthand that only an impassioned collector can name the subject.

These wares were made largely to satisfy the requirements of the tea ceremony which grew in popularity during the Momoyama period. The famous tea masters were extremely demanding and particularly valued the white glaze of Shino ware, which the authors here compare to "that of the first snow of the season, or to the last traces of the winter snow, which the warm spring winds are erasing as the bush warbler's first song rings out. Shino's white surface is soft like a mother's breast; it brings back memories of childhood.... Shino ware is the spirit of tea, the essence of pottery." It was the essence of pottery for its creators as well as its admirers. Once they had applied the glaze, "after offering sake and prayers to the gods of the kiln, and ritually scattering salt to purify the area, they entrusted their ...