Pitcher,Bronze

The pitcher contained hot or cold water to be used in offerings at Buddhist ceremonies or used to hold water to purify priests’ hands. This particular shape of pitcher is generally known as Shigi -shape, because of its association with Chogosonshi-ji temple located on Mount Shigi. Pitchers with the same shape, which existed in Song dynasty China and Koryo dynasty Korea, were originally used as ordinary kettles. However, when imported to Japan, they were valued highly as foreign goods from the continent and were used as special accessories for Buddhist ceremonies.