An Imari Bottle Vase

Bottles of this shape were generally decorated in iron-red and various coloured enamels (see lot 105). However, this vase was kept undecorated to appreciate the multidimensional keshiki (‘scenery’ on the surface created during the kiln in the firing process that cannot be controlled). Keshiki was highly appreciated by the Japanese, especially by tea masters, in the traditional aesthetic value of wabi-sabi that invites meditation on the acceptance of transience and imperfection of all objects in life. Without the enamel decoration, this bottle elegantly stands showing beautiful various keshiki and uneven silver repairs, which embodies the Japanese aesthetic.

For another example of an undecorated bottle of similar form, see:
Toguri Museum of Art, Shuki ten, Kakiemon ten zuroku [Exhibition catalogue of drinking vessels and Kakiemon], (Tokyo, 1988), p. 32, no. 41