18. Oribe pair of small circular plates from the Kasen Studio

18. Oribe pair of small circular plates from the Kasen Studio

Light gray clay, cream, green, brown, and transparent glazes; the base of each dish and a band on the sides of the dish immediately surrounding the base left unglazed.  Weight (of each): 154 g (5.5 oz). Rim diameter: 12 cm (4-3/4 in); base diameter: 9.7 cm (3-7/8 in). 

The shape and dimensions of these dishes are so alike that they must have been produced with molds. A spatula was drawn across the bottom to create three shallow depressions. On the base of each dish, a small seal, with the characters 霞仙 (kasen), was pressed into the clay. The ground of the top surface is cream-colored. One side of the dish was dipped in green glaze and the dish was tilted to create the extension of green into the center. The rim is outlined in brown glaze, which was also used to create the decoration, a willow tree and three wavy lines suggesting water. The exterior surface was covered with transparent and green glazes. The stamps on the back mark these as products of the Kasen Studio in Seto City, Gifu prefecture, in central Japan. The Kasen Studio is run by the Kato family; the current head of the studio belongs to the fourteenth generation of his family to engage in potting. The studio classifies itself as working in the Seto tradition of pottery, and some of their output features Oribe designs.

Purchased at the Japan Trade Center in San Francisco in the late 1980s or early 1990s.