Collection
 |
Seto ware
(Japan)
- Title
- 'Ishizara' food plate
- Place of origin
-
Japan
- Year
- 1800-1850
- Media category
- Ceramic
- Materials used
- stoneware with 'horse eye' (umanome) design in iron
- Dimensions
-
25.5cm diam.
- Credit
- Bequest of Patricia Englund 2005
- Accession number
- 175.2005
- Location
- Lower Asian gallery
- Further information
The plate, made at the traditional ceramic centre of Seto, is an excellent example of the functional, unsophisticated, regional folk craft advocated by Hamada and Kawai. Described in Japanese as a 'stone plate' ('ishizara') it was used for food. This particular design, known as 'horse-eye' ('umanome'), was common on plates used at inns along the Tokaido Highway between Kyoto and Tokyo in the late Edo and Meiji periods. The slightly battered appearance of the plate is standard for this type of well-used pottery.
Asian Art Department, AGNSW, June 2005.
