Jar with loops

This sturdy jar was probably used to store dried tea leaves before they were ground into powder for use in the tea ceremony. Its high neck was designed to accommodate a stopper that would have been lashed to the vessel with a cord threaded through the four lugs (loops). In the kiln, ash from the fire landed on the shoulders of the vessel and liquefied in the intense heat, creating natural glaze. The high iron content of Bizen clay determines the reddish-brown color of the jar and also causes the naturally greenish glaze to turn yellow, an effect known as gomayū or “sesame seed glaze.”