Ceramic pottery in Japan dates from the Neolithic Period. Earthenware was made for functional purposes (cooking and storage) by the Jomon people (Jomon Period 10,500–300 BC) making Japan one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Ceramics continue to have an important presence in Japanese traditional arts, in part due to their central role in the Tea Ceremony.
Jomon earthenware took the form of rolled ‘ropes’ of clay affixed to the otherwise unadorned main pot. Later, the style became more flamboyant, eventually resulting in the so-called “flame style” used for the tops of big pots to suggest swirling fire. The rope tradition continued to influence later works, not the ropes as such, but rope-like striations on the sides of pots.
A transitional style from the Jomon to the Yayoi Period (3-4 BC) was called “Sue,” short for ‘Sueki style.” Yayoi profited from the appearance (from Korea) of potter’s wheels. Following was the Kofun Period (300-710 AD) during which the Sue style was used mainly for funerary vessels, buried in graves of Notables. Later in the Heian Period, Sue was used for tableware. Eventually, with the arrival during that period of Chinese Buddhism, Sue also got frequent use as altar vessels for rituals.
The Regelski Collection contains a large display of these early Japanese arts, though only a few can be illustrated here.
