The pilgrim flask of rounded form rising from a at footrim with exaggerated mid-range and tapering shoulders to an elongated spout topped with a stopper, flanked by small loops. The vessel is covered unevenly in a blue-white rice straw ash glaze.
Shodai stoneware were greatly appreciated by the founders of the folk craft movement in the 1920’s called the ‘Mingei’. Vessels such as this were manufactured by anonymous potters in the service of the Hosokawa clan. The most praised of these wares were the vessels which exhibited the dramatic blue-white running and clouding glaze seen in this particular pilgrim ask.
• Similar Shodai ware pieces are in the Mingei: Masterpieces of Japanese Folkcraft from the Japan Folk Craft Museum, number 67
