210. “Oribe” katakuchi

210. “Oribe”  katakuchi

Tan clay, with cream glaze on interior and exterior sides and center of ring foot; decorations in dark brown and blue fading to brown at the edges; base of foot ring is unglazed. Weight: 128 g (4.5 oz). Height: 4.2 cm (1-5/8 in). Top dimensions: 8.7 x 8.7 cm (3-1/2 x 3-1/2 in). Circumference at widest point of circular part: 8.7 cm (3-1/2 in). 

This appears to have been shaped over a mold. It sits on the base of the foot ring. Inside and outside, the foot ring is 0.3 cm (1/8 in) high; its outer circumference is 5 cm (2 in); the inner circumference is 3.7 cm (1-1/2 in). Above the base, the shape is circular for the first 1.6 cm (5/8 in); this area of the external walls has horizontal ribbing, as if it had been shaped with a bladed tool. Above this the walls have been squared off. Three of the corners at the rim have been shaped into arcs; the fourth corner is the pouring spout, which is 1.8 cm (1/2 in) long. The surface of this is very smooth. 

This was decorated with Oribe-like glazes. The base coat is the usual cream gray color. The side opposite the pouring spout was dipped in a thin coating of blue glaze; either the combination of the two glazes or a thinner, watery coating from the blue glaze oozing down the piece resulted in a reddish brown color below the blue glaze. Vaguely vegetable decorations were drawn by hand in a darker brown/black glaze on either side of the pouring spout, both on the exterior and on the interior. 

This is a commercial piece exploiting Oribe conventions. The decorations drawn in the dark brown glaze are inept and tentative, especially on the interior, where it may have been harder to maneuver the brush. The shape is good, but more attention to the glazing and decoration would have resulted in a better piece. It doesn’t even pour very well. (I was deceived by the seller’s photographs; at least it was a cheap piece.) 

Purchased in April 2023 from A Piece of Japan in New York.