DEFINITIONS

I suspect it is rather easy to go down the rabbit hole of definitions but always ending up using terms like classic and traditional but when I first saw this pot, my brain immediately flipped through the dictionary and went directly to classic and traditional without a nano-second of hesitancy. This Shigaraki te-oke mizusashi was made by Takahashi Shunsai and there is a nearly identical piece in the catalogue; THE SHIGARAKI WARE; NAOKATA'S TEA WARE & SHUNSAI'S JARS on page 116, No. 138, both are very well fired though the catalogue entry has a slightly more distinctive firing pattern on the face of the mizusashi. What started centuries ago as an everyday wooden bucket and evoled into a ceramic object of use and ritual, this teoke mizusashi was created as an homage or copy of a traditional Japanese "hand bucket" were details of the pot are reproduced and marked in the clay from the twisted rope around the form, the wood slats and the all purpose, functional handle raising above the water receptical. The surface shows its direct placement in the kiln where ash and charcoal have painting the main part of the pot  while fly ash has landed and melted down various areas of the handle and supports adding more interest and variation to the humble form. As if the design, form and surface wasn't quite enough, the roiro, black lacquer lid (nuri-buta) is of the two part style, wari-buta* which is clearly custom made as they vary in size and each one fits specifically to one side of the pot due to the irregularities during the making and firing of the mizusashi. Ultimately my take away from seeing this mizusashi in person is that it is rather clear that near both (ceramic) dictionary entries for "Classic" and "traditional" there should be a picture of a pot exactly like this timeless Shigaraki mizusashi.

           

In addition to the photo of the mizusashi in question I snapped a quick picture out of the above mentioned catalogue to allow for easy comparison between the illustrated piece and the one that I was able to handle and study. As I mentioned there is a rather attractive design created by both fire and happenstance which I find quite compelling and has enriched the surface of the illustrated mizusashi quite a bit.   

 

( *On a side note, I graciously received some information regarding the mizusashi and lid from an advanced tea practioner in Australia who told me this style of lid, two part, no hinge, wari-buta, split lid is intended for winter tea ceremony as practiced by the Urasenke school. Further, the hinged style of wari-buta is intended for low, wide mizusashi known as hira-mizusashi.)