Black Seto (Seto-guro) Tea Bowl, named Iron Mallet (Tettsui)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Some of the finest tea wares of the Momoyama period, including Black Seto, were produced in the Mino kilns in Gifu Prefecture. Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591), the influential arbiter of the aesthetics of tea, preferred “imperfect,” spontaneously potted domestic ceramics and used them as the basis of the simple and austere wabi style.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art