Pail‑shaped freshwater jar (Onioke mizusashi)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the sixteenth century, when the foundations of the Japanese-style tea culture (wabicha) were formed, tea master Takeno Jōō began using simple, rough Shigaraki ware in the tea room. One of the vessels he adopted as a freshwater jar was a Shigaraki container known as an onioke (devil’s bucket) and thought to have been used in the Ōmi area to process hemp or ramie stalks into thread. When Shigaraki clay is fired without glaze, it turns a range of shades, from golden-orange to ruddy brown, its tawny surface flecked with white grains of feldspar. Wood ash melting onto the vessels during wood-firing could create irregular patches of greenish-blue natural glaze. Western potters, such as Paul Chaleff, were inspired by the seemingly random effects of the wood-fired kiln.

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