Oribe ware

Creative pottery fired in Mino kilns in the eastern part of Mino Province (Gifu Prefecture). The region has a tradition of pottery since the Heian period, but it showed great development at the end of the Muromachi period, when they began to fire tea utensils that reflected the tastes of tea masters, especially the newly emerging "wabi" ware and tea ceremony utensils. As an extension of this, Oribe ware began to be created in the early years of the Keicho period (1596-1615) in the late Momoyama period, and was named after the style and design of Oribe Furuta, a leader in the tea ceremony world at the time. It began to be fired in large quantities at one of the most representative Mino kilns, the Motoyashiki kiln in Kujiri, Toki City, using a multi-chambered climbing kiln introduced from Karatsu ware in Kyushu, and many masterpieces were also fired here. Furthermore, pottery in a similar style continued to be fired from the early to mid-Edo period at nearby kilns, such as the Yasichida kiln in Kani city, the Nembutsu, Inari, and Nishi kilns in Kasahara-cho, Tajimi city, and the Okawa Higashi kiln in Mizunami city, and in the late Edo period, this tradition was revived by potters from Seto.

The distinctive features of Oribe ware in terms of its shape and design are twofold: a free-form "shape" that breaks away from the conventional concept of a circular shape, and an unconventional "design" in which the patterns and their composition are not at all bound by fixed concepts. This direction had already been shown in the preceding Shino ware, but Oribe ware could be said to have carried this new direction through to its completion. Since irregular shapes are the norm, molds are often used for shaping, and green glaze and iron painting are used for decoration. A wide variety of styles were developed, including green glaze only (So-Oribe), green glaze combined with iron painting (Narumi Oribe), Shino-style dark iron painting (Shino Oribe), black glaze with Oribe black, and black glaze with iron painting added (Kuro Oribe), and these works of art well represent the creative spirit of the Momoyama period. His skills are better displayed in his kaiseki utensils than in his products such as tea bowls, flower vases, and water jars.

[Yoshiaki Yabe]

"Complete Collection of Japanese Ceramics 16: Oribe" edited by Junichi Takeuchi (1976, Chuokoron-Shinsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

美濃(みの)国（岐阜県）東部の美濃窯で焼かれた創造性豊かな陶器。同地は平安時代以来の製陶の伝統があるが、室町末期に至って大きな展開をみせ、とくに新興の「わび」の器、茶の湯の道具に供すべく、茶人の趣向をもった茶具を焼造し始めた。その延長上に桃山時代後半の慶長(けいちょう)（1596～1615）初年から創作され始めたのが織部焼で、作風・意匠のうえに当時の茶道界のリーダー古田織部好みといわれる特色があるため、この名称でよばれる。代表的な美濃窯の一つである土岐(とき)市久尻(くじり)元屋敷窯で九州の唐津焼(からつやき)から導入された連房式登窯(のぼりがま)を用いて多量に焼き始められ、また秀作もここで多く焼造された。また亜流の様式のものが可児(かに)市弥七田窯、多治見(たじみ)市笠原(かさはら)町の念仏、稲荷(いなり)、西などの諸窯、瑞浪(みずなみ)市の大川東窯など周辺の窯で、江戸初頭から中期にかけて焼造され続け、江戸後期になるとその伝統を瀬戸の陶工たちが再興している。

　織部焼の造形、意匠上の特色は、従来の円形を中心とする形の概念を徹底的に打ち破った自在な「形姿」と、描き込まれる文様やその構成が固定の概念にまったく拘束されないという破天荒な「意匠性」の2要素から成り立っている。こうした方向はすでに先行する志野陶にも示されていたが、織部焼はこの新機軸を貫徹したといえる。不整形が基本となるため、成形には型が繁用され、装飾には緑釉と鉄絵が活躍する。緑釉だけのものは総織部、鉄絵併用は鳴海織部(なるみおりべ)、志野風の色濃い鉄絵は志野織部、黒釉のかかった織部黒、黒釉に鉄絵を加えた黒織部など多様な作風が繰り広げられ、桃山時代の創意ある時代精神をよく示す美術品となっている。製品は茶碗(ちゃわん)、花いけ、水指(みずさし)などよりは、懐石道具類にその力量がよく表れている。

［矢部良明］

『竹内順一編『日本陶磁全集16　織部』（1976・中央公論社）』

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