Antique Shigaraki stoneware jar with a flared rim, incised shoulder decoration, pale green ash glaze, and a deeply slumped section of its rounded body.

Muromachi-Period Shigaraki Higaki-Decorated Jar

$1,095.00
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Antique Shigaraki stoneware jar with a flared rim, incised shoulder decoration, pale green ash glaze, and a deeply slumped section of its rounded body.
  • Antique Shigaraki stoneware jar with a flared rim, incised shoulder decoration, pale green ash glaze, and a deeply slumped section of its rounded body.
  • Three-quarter view of an antique Shigaraki jar with a flared neck, reddish brown stoneware, incised lines around the shoulder, and pale green ash glaze running down one side.
  • Front view of an antique Shigaraki stoneware jar with a rolled lip, incised geometric shoulder decoration, a sunken upper shoulder, and pale green ash glaze running down the body.
  • Muromachi-Period Shigaraki Higaki-Decorated Jar
  • Muromachi-Period Shigaraki Higaki-Decorated Jar
  • Antique Shigaraki stoneware jar photographed against a dark background, showing its reddish brown, pitted clay body, flared rim, and incised cypress-fence pattern around the shoulder.
  • Three-quarter view of an antique Shigaraki stoneware jar, with incised zigzag decoration near the neck and a sunken side coated with patches of pale green natural ash glaze.
  • Antique Shigaraki stoneware jar with a wide rolled rim, mottled brown and cream surface, incised shoulder design, and greenish ash glaze flowing over the collapsed side.
  • Underside of an antique Shigaraki stoneware jar, showing its roughly circular, unglazed base with coarse dark brown clay and a surrounding ring of reddish stoneware.
  • Overhead view into an antique Shigaraki stoneware jar, showing its thick round rim, dark mouth, uneven shoulders, incised lines, and mottled brown and green ash-glazed surface.
  • Close-up of an antique Shigaraki jar's short neck and rolled rim, with mottled cream and brown natural ash glaze and hand-incised cypress-fence lines across the shoulder.
  • Front view of an antique Shigaraki stoneware jar with a flared neck, incised shoulder lines, a slumped upper body, and pale green ash glaze flowing down its brown, textured surface.
Muromachi-Period Shigaraki Higaki-Decorated Jar

Muromachi-Period Shigaraki Higaki-Decorated Jar

$1,095.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Details

Size: Approximately 8.75 inches high × 7.5 inches across at its widest (22 × 19 cm)
Shigaraki, Japan · Muromachi period · Wood-fired stoneware with natural ash glaze

A Shigaraki stoneware jar from the Muromachi period, most likely the 15th century, with hand-incised higaki (cypress-fence) decoration. Wood firing produced its flowing natural ash glaze and the striking inward collapse of its shoulder, known in Japanese pottery as hetari. The incised pattern remains visible across the collapsed clay.

Originally made for storage, jars like this later gained the admiration of Japanese tea masters, who valued their irregular forms and wood-fired surfaces. Through mitate, the practice of seeing an everyday object in a new way, such vessels found new purpose as flower containers and tea utensils.

Details

  • Origin: Japan
  • Period: Muromachi period, most likely 15th century
  • Tradition: Ko-Shigaraki (old Shigaraki pottery)
  • Technique: Incised higaki-mon decoration and natural ash glazing from wood firing
  • Firing characteristic: Hetari, kiln-induced slumping of the shoulder
  • Material: High-fired stoneware
  • Design: Tsubo (jar) with higaki (cypress-fence) pattern
  • Dimensions: Approximately 8.75 inches high × 7.5 inches at its widest diameter (22 × 19 cm); 23.5 inches around at its widest (59.7 cm circumference)
  • Weight: 6 lb 3.8 oz (2,828 g)

Condition

Well-preserved antique stoneware with an aged surface, natural ash glaze, and mineral deposits. The incised higaki decoration remains clearly defined.

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