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Japanese Echizen Tsubo (Storage Pot)

Muromachi Period (1333-1573), 15th Century pot with drip glaze of white to blue drip. "Echizen pottery was discovered at Miyazaki village, Odacho and established as one of the six ancient kilns by Koyama around 1949. The production of the kilns was small in comparison with Tokaname, Bizen or Seto, probably because for about six months in the year the area is covered with snow. The earlier pieces are very difficult to distinguish from Tokoname, but the Echizen pottery was more carefully made. The Muromachi kiln sites include Taira, Ogayama and Yamanaka. The Muromachi shaped jars are more globular with natural ash glaze running in rivulets. Echizen kilns did not seem to have fuedal patrons so no records exist before Tokogawa period. The cause of the decline of the Echizen kilns in the Muromachi period (production seems to diminish then) is unknown however, Mizuno thinks the fact that the area became a battleground in the Namboku wars caused the potters to flee and/or return to agriculture." Paraphrasing Soame Jenyns's "Japanese Pottery".