Mino-Iga Type Bucket-shaped Mizusashi with Handle

This mizusashi—a cold water jar for the tea ceremony—is an extremely rare example of tea ceramics dating from the early 17th century, an era when Japanese ceramics blossomed under the enthusiastic patronage of military warlords. !T!Recent excavations at the site of the Motoyashiki kiln in the Mino region of Gifu prefecture turned up a mizusashi of the same square bucket shape, confirming the attribution of this work. The excavated example, the work proposed here, and a third work in a private collection in Japan are the only three known examples in this usual shape. Crafted in Mino, this mizusashi deliberately imitates features associated with the Iga region and much cherished by tea masters: deformities of shape and irregularities of glaze, caused by both human intervention and the firing process. !T!This mizusashi was once in the collection of Honda Tadamune (1691-1757), a daimyo (provincial military governor) of high rank in the Tokugawa government. Descended from Honda Tadakatsu, one of the most famous generals who helped Tokugawa Ieyasu win hegemony in the early 16th century. Tadamune , for his part, ruled over domains in Kawachi and Ise provinces in central Japan, and served on the shogun’s inner council of advisers. He was an accomplished poet.