Water Jar, Pail shape; Kosometsuke type

This water jar was made to order for a Japanese tea master at the Jingdezhen kilns during China’s late Ming dynasty. The work is styled as a wooden pail, and the knob on the lid represents bamboo. The clay and glaze are of poor quality, resulting in the mushikui (“wormhole”) effect caused by glaze flaking away from the edges. The rustic appearance of works such as this found favor among Japanese tea practitioners of the time.