One of the Seven Kilns of Enshu
There are many unknowns about the origin of this pottery, such as the theory that it was founded as an official kiln by Suganuma Sadayoshi (1587-1643), lord of Zeze Castle, who was a close friend of Hon’ami Koetsu and Kobori Enshu, and that it had already been fired before that time.
Ishikawa Tadafusa (1583-1650), an apprentice of Kobori Enshu, succeeded Sadayoshi as lord of the castle, built a kiln in Oe, Seta, and had the family of potter Tarouemon produce only tea ceramics (this is said to be the reason for the Enshu seven kilns). After Tadaso moved to Ise Kameyama in the mid-1600s, the Honda family served as the lord of the castle and continued to produce pottery until the end of the Edo period, but the kilns were closed at the time of the Meiji Restoration.
However, in 1919, Iwasaki Kenzo, a local tea ceremony master, and Yamamoto Shunkyo, then a major Japanese-style painter, rebuilt the kiln and named it “Kagero (heat haze) -en.” Today, the kiln is trusted by the Sen family for its traditional tea ceremony ceramics, and often produces items favored by the head of the school.
The old kilns include Seta-yaki, Oe-yaki, Kokubu-yaki, and Suzumegatani-yaki.
Seta (Seta-yaki), Oe, and Kokubu-yaki are elegant tea utensils featuring iron glaze using the Seto pottery method, and they produced excellent tea containers in particular. In the closing days of the Edo period, the production of cochin glazed wares is also known as Suzumegatani-yaki, a type of zeze ware.
