Seto chaire is the collective term for domestic thick-tea jars fired in the Seto area of Aichi Prefecture, ranging from copies of Chinese forms to independently Japanese shapes. It is the leading lineage of domestic jars. Seto produced noted potters including Toshiro Shunkei and Toshiro Kichibei and supported tea culture from the early modern period onward as the home of the tea jar.
History
Jar production at Seto began in the Kamakura period, and Kato Kagemasa (Toshiro Shunkei) is said to have brought techniques back from Song China. Seto jars are classified by period into ko-Seto, ma-chuko, Kinkazan, Hafu-gama, and the later kilns.
Why they matter
Kobori Enshu's selection of domestic jars as chuko meibutsu raised Seto's standing sharply. Before that, a domestic jar was by definition a lesser thing than an imported one; afterwards it was not.
About this article
Edited by the operator of Chaen (a one-person operation) / Last updated:
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