Long stems of wild grasses sweep diagonally across this square dish, which has clipped corners and a gently raised rim. Several leaves are picked out in parallel incisions, while a double line follows the outline of the dish and crosses at the corners. The Oribe glaze ranges from luminous olive to deep green, darkening along the rim. Broad, finely mottled brown areas accentuate the incised design. On the underside, the potter’s mark is impressed into the unglazed centre.

This dish was used in chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. Serving dishes are among the ceramics selected for a tea gathering, and Oribe dishes were sometimes used to present sweets before the tea. The rich green glaze and freely shaped outline recall the Oribe tradition, which developed in the context of tea in the late Momoyama period.

Born in 1923 in Kitahama, Osaka, Rokurō Watanabe (渡辺六郎) graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1949, where he studied lacquerwork. He began making ceramics in 1960 and built his kiln, Rokurō-gama, in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 1965. His work was selected for the fourth Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition in 1977.

Japan. Ceramic with green Oribe glaze. 26 × 26 cm, approximately 4.5 cm high. Perfect condition. Original signed wooden box (tomobako).