J A P A N E S E C E R A M I C S
Ceramics is surely a traditional culture for Japanese people, but still deeply embedded as a part of culture living today. It allowed settled societies to store food and water, and it sure made eating and drinking.
Pottery survives in abundance because it's durability. Though easily broken, pottery shards are highly resistant to disintegration, allowing modern archaeologists to put them together again. Painted designs upon pottery surfaces are also quite resilient, provided they were added before the baking process
JOMON WARE || H I S T O R Y
The Jomon culture was a Neolithic culture that continued from c. 13,000 years ago up until c. 2,300 years ago. The history of Japanese ceramics begins with Jomon earthenware, said to be the world’s oldest earthenware. The name Jomon is based on the term cord pattern in Japanes which was christened by American zoologist Edward S. Morse (1838-1925), who excavated the first known examples of Jomon ceramic art from the Omori shell-mound near Tokyo.
In comparison to its Neolithic counterparts in Europe and Asia, the Jomon culture was unusual in that it lacked true agriculture and pastoralism, instead living in harmony with nature.
The beliefs of Jomon people were animistic in nature, like many other peoples from around the world. They prayed and held festivals in a world in which they believed spirits dwelled in all things. The earthen dolls called “Dogu” and the other beautiful pottery that were used in their rituals let us know that the flower of art bloomed on the Japanese archipelago.
|| C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S
The artist therefore built up the pot from the bottom with coil upon coil of soft clay, mixed with a selection of adhesive additives, including lead, mica and crushed shells. Once the vessel was fully formed, its inner and outer surfaces were smoothed. Finally, when completely dry, it was fired in an outdoor bonfire at a temperature of no more than about 600 degrees Celsius.
The earliest Incipient Jomon vessels are coarsely-pasted, bag-shaped and low-fired. Initial Jomon pots are mostly round with pointed bottoms and also low-fired.
Early Jomon is characterized by flat-bottoms, and (in northeastern Japan) by cylindrical forms, reminiscent of styles on the Chinese mainland.
During the Middle Jomon period, a much greater variety of vessels appears and are fired in kilns at much higher temperatures.
By the Late Jomon period, new forms of pottery are developed for ceremonial purposes, as well as anthropomorphic dogu figures and masks with goggle eyes.
INITIAL JOMON POT
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EARLY JOMON POT
GOOGLE-EYED DOGU FIGURINE
FROM THE FINAL JOMON PERIOD
|| T Y P E S O F J O M O N P O T S
- fukabachi- deep bowls or jar
- hachi- bowls of medium depth
- asabachi- shallow bowls
- tsubo- containers with narrow mouths and long necks;
- chuko- vessels with spouts.
Note: very shallow bowls are sometimes referred to as "sara" - plates
|| R E F E R E N C E S
What's JOMON? (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://aomori-jomon.jp/english/about/
Jomon Pottery. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/jomon-pottery.htm
THE EVOLUTION OF JAPANESE CERAMICS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.shibuiswords.com/historyceramics.htm
YAYOI WARE || D E S C R I P T I O N
The Yayoi Culture is defined as Japan's first rice-farming and metal-using culture, and it is identified archaeologically with certain types of artifacts, especially pottery styles. But traces of metal artifacts and rice usually are not found in Yayoi sites, especially in the early ones, so pottery styles are generaly the main bases for identifying Yayoi sites.
|| H I S T O R Y
It is thought to have been first made in around northern Kyushu in the third century B.C.
Storage jars, cooking pots, and eating and drinking vessels such as stemmed cups are basic examples of Yayoi earthenware. In some places, the forms and decorations follow Jomon traditions.
Yayoi pottery was also made by coiling clay, smoothing out the inside and outside, and then firing it, but the similarities end there since Yayoi pottery was more functional, made less porous, but also less decorated than Jomon pottery. It lacks luster and appears more like its original makeup.
LATE YAYOI PERIOD. The jar is a prime example of the
Yayoi potters' preference of an imperfect, natural style.
Yayoi pottery is also geometric. While they typically lack paints, some pieces are painted with a red pigment (such as the ceremonial pieces). High-footed cups/bowls were for making offerings.
||R E F E R E N C E S
Kealy, C. T. (2006, June 3). Yayoi Culture. Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/yayoi.html
Prehistoric Japanese Pottery. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://emerald.tufts.edu/programs/mma/fah188/ospina/yayoi/
J A P A N E S E P O T T E R Y
BIZEN JAR
Fujiwara Yu had his own special forms,
usually bold and tight, and that can be seen on this vase with textured
natural-ash glaze (goma) and the Fujiwara shiso-purple firing: one reason this
was selected is also the movement in the ‘ears’–like wings.
|| R E F E R E N C E S
Yu, F.
(2001) Yakimono Gallery. Retrieved from http://japanesepottery.com/gallery-item/bizen-jar-vase-by-living-national-treasure-fujiwara-yu/
HENKO
A flattened-oval henko jar that is in
it’s perfect condition that was signed by Furutani’s wife.
|| R E F E R E N C E S
Machio, F. (2000) Yakimono Gallery.
Retrieved from http://japanesepottery.com/gallery-item/furutani-michio-tribute-collection-the-only-henko/
MUMYOI VASE
With a use of local red clay and thus the
color of the wares brilliantly contrasts with the black smoked areas. Although
the hakagaki inscription reads hanaire-vase, this piece can also be used as a
large tokkuri-flask: in perfect condition with a signed box, 19.2cm.tall,
signed on base.
Sekisui, I. (1941). Yakimono Gallery. Retrieved from http://japanesepottery.com/gallery-item/mumyoi-vase-by-living-national-treasure-ito-sekisui/
THE ROAD TO UNDERSTANDING JAPANESE POTTERY
Classic Japanese ceramics, which matured and flowered in the early shogunate period, are guided by the aesthetic of "wabi-sabi". This approach, which reflects the ideals of Zen Buddhism, embraces simplicity, naturalness, aging, and irregularity. The centrality of wabi-sabi to traditional Japanese art has been described as equivalent to that of Greek classicism in the West.
These effects were achieved with several techniques. Vessels were moulded manually, instead of being precisely shaped on a potter's wheel. Baking was conducted at relatively low temperatures, thereby avoiding the glassy, polished look of high-temperature ceramics. Instead of being allowed to cool gradually, hot vessels were removed from the kiln and plunged into straw or water, causing such effects as warping, crackles, and distorted colours.
MACEWAN, M. (2014, September 1) The Road To Understanding Japanese Pottery [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-pottery/
MEMBERS:
Goc-ong, Roxette- Japanese pottery
Lluvido, Gabrilla Mae-Jomon ware
Moro, Kimberly- The Road To Understanding Japanese Pottery
