Tsubo jar, Japan Medieval period

Tsubo jar, Japan, Medieval period.
This tsubo jar, 38 cm high and 31 cm wide, dates back to the end of the Muromachi period (circa 1500). Made of red clay, it reveals a dense material, dotted with grains of sand that highlight the strength of the stoneware. Firing in a tunnel kiln (anagama) left large vitrified streaks running across the body, while wood dust, carried by the air from the fire, was deposited randomly.
Where the natural glaze could not adhere, iron oxides reddened the surface, creating reddish-brown patches like reliefs in a mineral landscape. The short neck, with its flattened lip, is distinguished by its simplicity. This type of tsubo jar was used to store fresh water for the tea ceremony, which was then filled into smaller containers. Although several kilns produced Tsubo jars during this period, the shape and glaze type are more reminiscent of Tokoname production.
Established on the Chita Peninsula, Tokoname workshops were producing robust stoneware as early as the 12th century, but it was with the rise of chanoyu in the 14th century that their imposing jars gained their status: utilitarian and embodying a wabi-sabi aesthetic, they embody the beauty of the imperfect and the ephemeral, a legacy of Zen thought that crossed the sea from China.
This piece illustrates the balance between the technical mastery of Tokoname potters and the accidental poetry of fire. The marks left by other pottery bonded to the stoneware, the small cracks, and the irregularities of the modeling invite the eye to wander, transforming the object's surface into a contemplative relief. An object of function and meditation, this tsubo jar carries the memory of a medieval Japan where daily gestures became rituals and where each imperfection was celebrated as a trace of time.
Many museums such as the Metropolitan or the British Museum hold similar jars.