CC0 · no rights reserved
Water Container (Mizusashi) with Riverscape
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Mizusashi are jars used to hold water for the preparation of tea at tea gatherings. This one was produced in the Mino area of present-day Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. It is called a “picture Shino” ( e-shino ) mizusashi, as it has an abstracted design on one side, said to resemble an ink painting of reeds and small boats along a riverbank, and a geometric pattern on the other. With its irregular shape and thick, luminous glaze, it is of a variety favored by eminent tea masters of the Momoyama period.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineWater Container (Mizusashi) with Riverscape (絵志野水指), late 1500s–early 1600s. Japan, Momoyama period (1573-1615) to Edo period (1615-1858). Stoneware with underglaze iron oxide slip decoration (Mino ware, Shino type) and lacquer lid (modern replacement); diameter: 19.6 cm (7 11/16 in.); lid: 2.9 x 14.7 cm (1 1/8 x 5 13/16 in.); container: 18.4 cm (7 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1972.9
