Bowl with Pampas Grass Design

Ogata Kenzan, one of the great masters of painted ceramics in the Edo period (1615–1868), produced a distinctive style of freely brushed grasses, blossoms, and birds as decorative motifs for pottery. Kenzan’s famous workshop in Kyoto introduced innovative uses of pigments and glazes to pottery. This bowl, painted in a design of brilliantly colored reeds, was used for serving steamed food.