Narrow-necked storage jar

Between 1100 and 1600, more than eighty regional kilns in Japan manufactured unglazed stoneware vessels in a standard repertory of wide-mouth vats, narrow-necked jars, and mortars. The versatile jars were used for any purpose that required a durable and watertight container, from storing seed grain to fermenting wine to interring cremated remains according to Buddhist practice. The makers of these jars were farmers who occasionally made pottery; thus the jars exhibit a range of skill.

The most successful of such regional kilns--Bizen, Shigaraki, Tamba, Echizen, and Tokoname--have continued operation to the present day, although technologies and products have changed drastically.

Although the jar forms shared similarities from kiln to kiln, the colors and textures of local clays characterized the products from individual kilns. In the 1500s, Japanese connoisseurs, who occasionally used such jars instead of imported, glazed Chinese jars for storage of tea leaves, began to express admiration for the subtle coloration of the clay and the effects of ash melting on the unglazed surface. This is the first recorded instance when Asian storage jars were appreciated for their appearance as opposed to their utility.