The Mino district
Mino ware comes from the area around Tajimi, Toki and Kasahara in the southeastern part of Gifu Prefecture, in the old province of Mino. The district lies close to Seto in neighboring Aichi, and the two share clay resources and a long history, which is why historians sometimes speak of the Seto-Mino region. Potters here have fired ceramics for many centuries, and the area remains one of the largest producers of tableware in Japan today.
What makes Mino especially famous in art history is a burst of creativity in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Kilns in the district began making new kinds of wares for the tea gathering, with shapes and glazes that were distinctly Japanese in feel. The most famous of these are Shino and Oribe.
Momoyama tea taste
The Momoyama period, around the end of the sixteenth century, was a time of change, powerful warlords and great energy in the arts, and tea practice was central to elite life. Tea masters sought tableware that did not simply copy Chinese models. Rough, hand-shaped pieces with unexpected forms became fashionable, as did the idea of sharing humor and surprise with guests. Mino kilns responded to this taste, and some historians consider their experiments typical of the age. The general background is covered in discussions of the Momoyama period.
Shino: the white feldspar glaze
Shino ware is known for a thick, soft white glaze made largely from feldspar. On the surface it typically looks milky, with a texture sometimes compared to the skin of an orange or to snow. Several features are associated with it.
- Pinholes in the glaze, where small bubbles burst during firing.
- Orange or pink flushes where the clay below shows through the thin areas, often described as fire color.
- Iron-brown painted lines under the glaze, which might show grasses, simple geometric marks or abstract strokes.
- Variants including a gray type (Nezumi Shino, “mouse gray”) in which an iron-rich slip is scratched through, and a red type in which the clay is distinctly red.
Shino wares are generally thick, tactile and rather quiet in mood. Their appearance can vary a lot from kiln to kiln and firing to firing, and many are modern interpretations of older types, so the term covers a family of looks, not a single recipe. They sit in a longer story about how celadon glaze and other surfaces are appreciated for subtle effect.
Oribe: green, pattern and play
Oribe ware takes its name from Furuta Oribe, a warrior and tea master of the late Momoyama and early Edo period, whose taste was reportedly bold and inventive. How directly he shaped each surviving piece is hard to know, and the name has become a style label rather than a record of his personal hand. Oribe pieces are typically recognized by these traits.
- A bright green glaze, colored with copper, usually covering part of the piece.
- Painted patterns in iron brown on white areas, using stripes, grids, plants and abstract motifs.
- Deliberately distorted shapes, such as bent rims, asymmetrical dishes and square or fan-shaped plates.
- Mixed decoration, where several glazes and patterns coexist on a single piece.
The effect is lively and a bit theatrical, quite different from the restraint of Shino. It is a good reminder that Japanese taste is not only quiet and subdued. The same culture that prizes seijaku, or stillness, also enjoyed playful and exuberant tea utensils.
Other Mino styles
Mino also made Setoguro, a black glaze pulled hot from the kiln, and Kiseto, a yellowish glaze often paired with green accents. These, like Shino and Oribe, were part of the Momoyama experiments, and the four together are sometimes introduced as the main Mino tea ware types. Terminology and attribution vary, and scholars continue to discuss kiln sites and dating.
The climbing kilns of Mino
A new type of kiln helped. The Momoyama-era Mino potters used larger kilns with multiple chambers, of the type known as climbing kilns, which allowed greater production and more control over temperature. This helped the district satisfy rising demand from tea practitioners and from households that wanted attractive dishes.
From tea bowls to the dinner table
After the Momoyama era, Mino potters continued to supply a wide market, and by the modern era the area was a major source of mass-produced tableware as well as hand-made studio wares. In the twentieth century, potters and researchers worked to rediscover earlier Mino styles, and many studio potters today make Shino and Oribe in their own ways. When shopping or viewing, it helps to remember that a piece labeled Shino or Oribe may be a contemporary work “in the style of,” not an antique, and labels alone do not prove age or origin.