Tea-leaf storage jar

The Kyoto potter Ninsei, master of a workshop located near the Buddhist temple Ninnaji, was the creative leader of Kyoto ceramics in the third quarter of the seventeenth century. His repertoire included stylish reinterpretations of classic Chinese, Korean, and Japanese ceramics, such as this tea-leaf jar, which is covered in an iron glaze associated with jars from the Seto kilns (Ninsei is said to have trained in Seto as a young man.)  Ninsei enlivened the glaze by using a stiff brush to rub away areas of the glaze before firing, resulting in a richly colored and textured surface. He also transformed the standard wheel-thrown jar shape by pressing sharp edges into the soft clay to create a four-sided form. A rim fragment of a small white-glazed bowl adhering to the dark glaze documents an accident in the kiln. Ninsei must have accepted if not welcomed this unexpected decoration, since he did not destroy the jar.