Japan Unknown
Unknown: Sake Flask and Cup

ceramic
5 x 2 x 2 in.
2015.68
Gift of Stephen and Sophie Mathonnet-VanderWell

During the thick tea service, a multicourse meal is often served with sake (rice wine) prior to the tea ceremony. The pieces of this contemporary Bizen ware sake set have been fired together via a traditional technique called fuseyaki. The stark contrast in color and pattern between the neck and the body of the bottle resulted from the placement of the cup upside down on the top of the bottle during the wood kiln firing. This prevented ash, the cause of the beautifully variable gray, blue, black and red colors on the body, to deposit on the neck of the bottle, so the reddish-brown hue of the natural exposed clay is preserved.

Text Panel from the exhibition Chanoyu: Ceramic Art in Japanese Tea Ceremony
March 16 – April 7, 2019
Groot Gallery
Co-curated by students and faculty from Carleton College and St. Olaf College