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painted pattern and green glaze, seen clearly in the most forward plane. This area of fixed graphics and fluid color is Oribe ware at its best to my eye and mind.

     Because Oribe ware was made in large quantities, examples are not hard to find. They are sold on eBay and through online galleries and dealers all the time. However, there is a great deal of variation in quality with this work, as one would expect. This is particularly true in the glazing. The underglaze decoration and green glaze relationship is hit and miss when you see a large number of these pots. One can often see the uneven thickness of green glaze in an area that perhaps should be even, if the style requires that the glaze appears to be poured in a robust, fluid and confident way. In fact, with almost all of these that I’ve seen, the green glaze is painted on, but intended to appear poured. I would argue that the Oribe style requires the neutral ground, white ground, iron pigment and glaze to meld through accurate application and proper firing temperature. When that meld fails to occur, we are left to see each step standing alone. The product is still authentic, I suppose, but less satisfying. This quality issue is a question not addressed in the catalog to my knowledge. We certainly don’t see these irregularities in the similarly patterned textiles or woodcuts of the same or later periods.

     Furuka Oribe included other ceramic ware in his oeuvre, Mino and Shino among them. Research into his life and work continues, but it has not yet been determined whether he took an active role in making pots or not. There are many records of his orders for, and purchases of, “irregular, warped and damaged vessels.”

     At the height of his influence, Oribe committed an unspecified transgression against the ruling class. He was forced, along with his son, to commit ritual suicide by sword. One can only imagine living in a time and place of such sophisticated aesthetics and severe politics. Despite this, expressive essence of what we now call Oribe ware has endured well beyond his time and place.

     What might we, who make pots in this eclectic but culturally chaotic time and place, gain by our understanding of the Oribe systems? That depends on who we are and what we want our work to be. Some of us might appropriate these methods in a fairly direct manner. You can say that some things, like Miso soup, shouldn’t be messed with. On the other hand, the Western imperative toward individualization seems to require something more oblique and original, at least in part. To the extent that one is willing, I’d advocate for some lengthy gestation which allows for a convoluted, indirect and ineffable re-emergence in an unforeseen context. Let it go in, live with it for a few years and, one day, go to the studio and be amazed. Sometimes deep understanding just comes out the end of your fingers.

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