211. Teapot with Oribe decorations

211. Teapot with Oribe decorations

Dark tan clay, with cream and green glazes and added pictorial designs in dark brown; base of foot ring unglazed as is some of the area inside the foot ring and those portions of the rim and lid that touch each other.  Capacity: 600 ml (2.5 cups). Weight: 444 g (1 lb). Height: overall, 10 cm (4 in); of body proper, 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in). Width: overall, 19.9 cm (7-7/8 in); body proper, 11.4 cm (4-1/2 in); rim, 10 cm (4 in); lid, 9.7 cm (3-7/8 in); top button, 2 cm (13/16 in), foot ring (exterior), 7.8 cm (3-1/8 in); foot ring (interior), 7.3 cm (2-7/8 in). 

This is a small, Western-style teapot. It sits on the base of the foot ring; the exterior of the foot ring is 0.4 cm (3/16 in) high; the interior has been excavated to an even depth of 0.6 cm (1/4 in). Above the foot ring, the walls move outward at a shallow angle, reaching the widest diameter of the body proper about 1.7 cm (5/8 in) above the base. From there the walls rise in more or less a straight line to a height of 7 cm (2/3-4 in), from which point they move inward to the rim, which is 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in) above the base. The handle and spout are attached on opposite sides of the piece. The lid is flanged and rests on an internal galley. It is dome-shaped with a central button for lifting. A hole for venting steam was drilled in the lid. The surface of this is very smooth. 

This has the basic Oribe cream glaze on the lid, interior, and exterior, as well as most of the interior of the foot ring. The handle, spout, and those portions of the walls abutting the handle and the spout are done in Oribe green, as is a central swath across the upper surface of the lid, roughly corresponding in width at the edges with the green-glazed portions of the body proper and then curving inward toward the center. On the cream-glazed portions of the exterior of the body and the lid, various “Oribe” vegetable and textile motifs were drawn in a dark brown glaze. 

The rim of the spout has a few minor chips. At some point the handle was broken off and rather clumsily glued back on. 

A much more successful use of Oribe idioms that the previous piece.

The seller dates this to the 1930s.  It certainly has seen use. Purchased from WTAC Japanese Antiques (NYC) in April 2023.