Sometsuke Senbori Gohan Jawan (rice/soup bowl with hand-painted cobalt and carved lines)

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Title:: Sometsuke Senbori Gohan Jawan (rice/soup bowl with hand-painted cobalt and carved lines)
Catalog Number:: AACC-MIN-98-22
Source:: Asian American Comparative Collection, Minidoka Collection
Description:: Although incomplete, the size and shape of this fragment indicate that it is likely a piece of a gohan chawan. The sherd features hand-painted bamboo elements and several carved horizontal bands, or senbori (Dower 1971:46; Simpson et al. 2014:60). Japanese ceramics expert Leland Bibb (2013:[11]) has suggested that this minimalistic style of hand-painting became most popular in the Taisho and early Showa eras. This vessel was donated to the AACC by Ron James.
Site Location:: Minidoka National Historic Site, Idaho
Site Date:: 1942-1945
Functional Category:: Mealtime Tableware
Material:: Jiki (porcelain)
Vessel Form:: Gohan Chawan (rice/soup bowl)
Artifact Dimensions:: Rim~ 12 cm; footring~ 4 cm; height= 6.5 cm
Pigment Application:: Shita-Etsuke (underglaze)
Decoration Type:: Sometsuke (hand-painted cobalt)
Exterior Decoration Method:: Sometsuke (hand-painted cobalt); Choka (carving)
Exterior Decoration Color:: Cobalt blue
Exterior Decoration Elements:: Take (Bamboo); Senbori (incised lines/bands)
Manufacture Origin:: Japan
Manufacture Date Range:: Likely the Taisho era (1912-1926) or pre-WWII Showa era (1926-1942)

Historical Japanese Ceramic Comparative Collection