, also spelled ''Ofuke'', refers to a type of

Japanese pottery , is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Kilns have produced earthenware, pottery, stoneware, glazed pottery, glazed stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptional ...

that was originally produced in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, central

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

History

During the

Kan'ei was a after '' Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./ref> Chan ...

era (1624–44), the first lord of Owari Tokugawa Yoshinao (1601–1650) had a kiln constructed at the corner of the Ofuke enceinte (''Ofukemaru'') in the northern part of the grounds of

Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...

. This type was called ''oniwa-yaki'' (御庭焼 literally "garden ware"). Almost every feudal lord had his own ''oniwa-yaki'', also to have gifts made. Potters from

Seto Seto may refer to: Places * Seto, Aichi, production place of Japanese pottery and venue of Expo 2005 * Seto, Ehime, facing the Seto Inland Sea *Seto, Okayama, adjacent to Okayama, in Okayama Prefecture *Seto Inland Sea of Japan * Setomaa (''Seto ...

were invited to make pottery. Ofukei ware therefore has links to Seto ware. Production started around 1670 and was under the patronage of the Owari Tokugawa lords. Production initially focused on tea caddies (''cha-ire''), and tea bowls. The wares that came from the castle kiln were generally produced for the lords for their own use or as gifts. The lord’s taste in ceramics was also imitated by other Owari ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

'', such as

Hirasawa Kurō Hirasawa Kurō (平澤九朗 1772-1840) was a Japanese ''samurai'' and pottery, potter during the late Edo period from Owari Province. He produced Shino ware Japanese tea utensils, tea utensils using the potter's wheel. His style was influenced b ...

and Masaki Sōzaburō, who made their own pieces. Ofukei ware however was also produced at a number of

Mino ware refers to Japanese pottery that was produced in Mino Province around the towns of Toki and Minokamo in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. History The history of Japanese pottery in the Toki area appears to have started more than 1,300 years ag ...

kilns. During the rule of the second lord

Tokugawa Mitsutomo was daimyō of Owari Domain during early Edo period Japan. Biography Tokugawa Mitsutomo was the eldest son of the first daimyō of Owari Domain, Tokugawa Yoshinao by a concubine. He undertook his ''genpuku'' ceremony under Shōgun Tokugawa Iemi ...

(1625–1700), the production of the kiln had stopped, but under the 10th lord

Tokugawa Naritomo was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period, who ruled the Owari Domain. His childhood name was Yasuchiyo (愷千代). He had a retreat north of Nagoya Castle called ''Shin Goten'' (新御殿 New Palace) in what is today Horibata-chō (堀端 ...

(1793–1850) it restarted around 1800. The production finally ceased with the end of feudalism in the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

of the later half of the 19th century. Another pottery that was produced under the reign of the 12th lord

Tokugawa Naritaka was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early late-Edo period. The son of the 11th shōgun Tokugawa Ienari, he succeeded Tokugawa Narimasa as head of the Tayasu Tokugawa house, before succeeding to the Tokugawa house of Owari Domain in 1839. His chil ...

(1810–1845) was Kinjō Higashiyama ware and

Hagiyama ware Hagiyama ware (萩山焼) refers to a type of Japanese pottery that was originally produced in Nagoya, central Japan. A dedicated Raku ware kiln was built in a garden on the north side of Nagoya Castle. The kiln is thought to have opened after th ...

. Ofuke ware is burned with the use of

feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) felds ...

minerals and shows a transparent

ash glaze Ash glazes are ceramic glazes made from the ash of various kinds of wood or straw. They have historically been important in East Asia, especially Chinese pottery, Korean pottery, and Japanese pottery. Many traditionalist East Asian potteries st ...

. Wares came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

References

External links

Walter Art Museum , White ''tenmoku'' tea bowl Ofuke ware

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery , Ofuke wares

Kagedo , Ofuke ware rabbit brazier
* https://www.pref.aichi.jp/kyoiku/bunka/bunkazainavi/yukei/kougei/kensitei/0591.html Culture in Nagoya History of Nagoya Japanese pottery Nagoya Castle {{japan-art-stub

History

See also

References

External links