Negoro ware saké bottle (Heishi)
Japan, unknown artist, Negoro ware saké bottle (Heishi), 15th/16th century, lacquered wood, The John Yeon Collection; Gift of Richard Louis Brown, public domain, 2009.21
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Negoro ware saké bottle (Heishi)
- Related Titles
original language: 瓶子
- Artist
- Date
15th/16th century
- Period
Japan: Muromachi period (1333-1573)
- Medium
lacquered wood
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
12 1/8 in x 8 in diam.; mouth: 1 13/16 in diam.; foot: 6 1/16 in diam.
- Collection Area
Asian Art
- Category
Lacquerware
- Object Type
bottle
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
The John Yeon Collection; Gift of Richard Louis Brown
- Accession Number
2009.21
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
This lacquered wooden vessel, with its broad shoulders, narrow waist, and spreading foot, is known as a heishi, a type of bottle for rice wine (J. sake). The mottled red color was achieved by applying layers of red lacquer (tinted with cinnabar) over black, a technique developed by artisans in the employ of Negoro Temple, a Buddhist monastery nestled in the mountains of southern Kii peninsula.
The shape of this sake bottle recalls Chinese ceramic wine bottles of the Song dynasty (960–1279), which were well known in Japan. Here the Japanese craftsman has exaggerated the contours of the vessel, making the shoulders wider and the waist more narrow, to create a more dynamic form.
- Exhibitions
2017 Quest for Beauty: The Architecture, Landscapes, and Collections of John Yeon Portland Art Museum
