PEACE: The Edo Period
This gallery will take you on a journey through Japan, a land of power, craft and culture, telling the story of how the country developed between 1600 and 1900 by unlocking its social, political and artistic past. Our journey begins in the Edo Period (c.1600-1868) a peaceful period which followed many centuries of civil war.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, a powerful regional warlord (daimyo), was victorious at the Battle of Sekighara in 1600. Within fifteen years he had defeated the last of his enemies and was in complete control, being appointed the supreme military ruler (shogun) of Japan in 1603 by the Emperor. Under this military rule Kyoto remained the capital of the country, where the Emperor remained as a symbol of spiritual and cultural authority. Meanwhile the small fishing village of Edo, where the Tokugawa clan had their stronghold in Edo Castle, became the administrative capital and home of the shogun’s government (bakufu).
To establish control the shogun passed a series of rules to ensure that any military or religious threats were suppressed. These measures helped to maintain a strict social order and enabled the cultural and artistic development of the country.
Discover the objects in more detail:
Left of case
Sword
Metal
Slightly curved metal sword with a plain light-coloured wooden handle and scabbard.
Stirrups
Metal
Dark metal stirrups with a spur and decorated with gold metal decoration depicting a warrior wielding a slashing sword.
Travelling Shrine
Lacquer and metal
Gold splattered lacquer rectangular box with opening along the middle. Metal catch and hinges.
Lacquer Furniture
Lacquer
Rectangular structure with cupboards/drawers in the top right and the bottom. The other areas in the top left and between the top and bottom of the right are left open with shelving. Frame and doors are inlaid with white decoration and landscape images.
Top of case
Flower Bottle
Ceramic
Tapered dark brown pottery coated in white glaze from the top.
Water Pot, 1650
Ceramic
Cylindrical pot, tapering slightly from base to top. Light red-brown pottery with cream and beige patched glaze, speckled with brown. Large Tsuta-leaf mon in underglaze brown.
Make/Maker: Akashi Ware (Akashi, Harima Province)
Sake Kettle, 1845
Ceramic
Round kettle with moulded spout and handle and separate lid in a dark brown glaze with grooves all around the main body.
Make/Maker: Raku XI gen (Yamashiro, Japan)
Bowl, 1845
Ceramic
Bowl of a broad flattened cylindrical shape. Formed in coarse light brown clay with white-speckled black glaze. Decorated with three pine needles, incised and coloured with white slip or enamel.
Make/Maker: Raku XI (Yamashiro Province)
Tea Ceremony Cup, Pair
Ceramic
Cup of broad cylindrical shape. Formed in coarse light brown clay with white-speckled black glaze. Decorated with three pine needles, incised and coloured with white slip or enamel.
Maker: A by Keinin and B by Kichizayemon, Raku (Kyoto, Japan)
Tea Kettle, about 19th C
Bronze
For heating water over a brazier in tea ceremony. Flattened globe form in bronze with white metal lining. Concave lid with flower knob. Bronze suspension handle. Square section spout riveted on.
Second shelf in case
Incense Box
Ceramic
Circular incense box with cockerel on lid in light brown glaze.
Incense Box, 1750-1800
Ceramic
Box in form of pear in rough, crackled brown pottery with dull brown glaze.
Incense Burner with Silver Cover, 1660
Ceramic and silver
Takamatsu ware incense burner with silver cover in blue-grey crackle glaze. Decorated with geometrical patterns in enamel and gold.
Make/Maker: Takamatsu Ware (Sanuki, Japan)
Incense Box, 1790
Ceramic
Box and lid in form of peach with stem, leaves and flower. Brown pottery with olive green glaze.
Make/Maker: Takatori Ware (Chikuzen Province)
Incense Pot, 1830-1840
Ceramic
Box in form of fat sparrow with head turned to one side. Beige crackled glaze decorated in underglaze red-brown and black.
Make/Maker: Dohachi (Kyoto, Japan)
Incense Box
Ceramic
Two-piece ceramic incense box with a light coloured glaze in the form of a hamster sat up on its hind legs.
Incense Box
Ceramic
Rounded square, pot in brown ceramic with white glaze and painted abstract decoration in reddish brown.
Incense Box, 1790
Ceramic
Box in the form of a fat sparrow. Pottery with crackled glaze; cream on breast, mottled yellow-brown elsewhere.
Make/Maker: Raku XI gen (Ryonyu) (Kyoto, Japan)
Unknown object
Ceramic
Ceramic ball with pale brown mottled glaze in the form of a baby bird looking up with beak wide open.
Tea Powder Jar, 1700
Ceramic
Brown unglazed container with an ivory lid and two small handles at the top of the jar. Decoration of grooves all the way around the length of the jar.
Third shelf in case
Tea Powder Jar, 1700
Ceramic
Oval jar of brown pottery with an ivory lid. Painted in reddish-brown glaze near base and overglazed with light yellowish crackled glaze.
Make/Maker: Seto Ware (Owari Province)
Tea Powder Pot, 1600
Ceramic
Roughly cylindrical jar of light brown pottery with incised diagonal line. The upper portion is glazed reddish-brown Red-brown and streaked with black.
Tea Powder Jar, 1750
Ceramic
Broad, squat rounded jar with an ivory lid. Painted in brown glaze with darker brown glaze running down over it.
Tea Powder Jar
Wood
Cylindrical box of light brown wood, with small lid which fits into top. Two kanji characters in gold lacquer on top of lid. Lined with fabric with velvet stripes in red, yellow, green, black and white, and gold thread.
Tea Powder Jar, 1650
Ceramic
Slightly flattened, globular jar with short neck and an ivory lid. Shallow grooves around base of neck and one around body. Brown pottery with rich brown glaze, streaked with lighter brown and mustard.
Make/Maker: Zeze Ware (Omi Province)
Tea Powder Jar, 1700
Ceramic
Squat, rounded jar with an ivory lid. Painted in dark brown and yellow glazes.
Make/Maker: Ryumonji Ware (Osumi, Japan) – Decoration possibly done in Kobe or Kyoto
Tea Powder Pot
Ceramic
Squat, rounded jar of beige pottery with patches of yellow-brown and dark grey mat surface. Its matching lid is lined with gold leaf.
Make/Maker: Juraku (Kyoto, Japan)
Fourth shelf in case
Tea Powder Jar, 1800
Ceramic
Tall cylindrical jar with ivory lid. Decorated with gloss mid-brown glaze on the top and bottom. Middle of the body in rough brown ceramic.
Make/Maker: Hagi Ware (Nagato, Japan)
Tea Ceremony Cup, 1770
Ceramic
Cylindrical cup with narrow everted rim. Light brown pottery with pinkish beige, light grey and black glazes and irregular line of white. Decoration may represent cloudy night scene with crescent moon and bat.
Make/Maker: Rokubei, 1st gen (Kyoto, Japan)
Bowl, 1830
Ceramic
Rounded bowl painted in a greyish beige crackled glaze. The outside is decorated with peonies in white slip and underglaze brown.
Make/ Maker: Potter – Rokubei II, decorator – Keibun (Kyoto, Japan)
Cake Bowl, 1700
Ceramic
Round, fairly shallow bowl of brownish-grey pottery. Decorated with beige crackled glaze overlaid inside and out in vertical streaks of light red-brown, dark brown and gold, edged with blue and mauve.
Make/Maker: Chosa Ware (Okumi Province)
Tea Pot, 1800
Ceramic
Squat, circular teapot without a handle. Painted in light brown crackle glaze with incised line on the body and lid.
Make/Maker: Hagi Ware (Nagato, Japan)
Tea Powder Jar
Ceramic
Squat rounded jar with three handles around the top in a pale coloured ceramic.
Make/Maker: Ninsei – possible imitation
Right of case
Tea Powder Pot and Lid, 1640
Ceramic
Double gourd shape in greenish-brown pottery with an ivory lid. The body is part glaze with speckled green-grey glaze with the upper portion glaze in brown. The glaze run ends unevenly.
Make/Maker: After Ninsei (Kyoto, Japan) – possible imitation
Utensils
Bamboo
Small bamboo utensils- one like an opium spoon another like a small rake. (Tea whisk?)
Water Pourer/ ladle
Bamboo
Small cylinder of bamboo open at the top with a long handle attached at an angle.
Water Pot, 1670
Ceramic
Cylindrical fresh water pot for tea ceremony use. Decorated with a relief of bats flying out of darkness on either side.
Make/ Maker: Imbe Ware (Bizen Province)
Water Pot, 1700
Ceramic
Jar in form of square bucket with a black lacquer lid and ring-shaped handle. Rough red-brown pottery with the top two thirds painted in grey-brown glaze overlaid by white glaze streaked and patched with light turquoise. White and turquoise glaze inside.
Make/ Maker: Karatsu Ware (Hizen Province)
Stand for Iron Pot, 1830
Ceramic
Thick, round, flat pottery stand. The top is glazed black in an uneven ring and stamped with two kikumon and four leaves.
Make/Maker: Benjiro (Musashi Province)
Flower Vase, 1650
Ceramic
Tall cylindrical vase made from Oni province clay decorated with a brown speckled glaze and black metal lid
Make/Maker: Koho
Water Jar, 1650
Lacquer
Cylindrical yellow brown glaze with patches of cream and brown decorated with large gold circular designs on the side and a lacquer lid and brocade bag.
Make/ Maker: Koko (Kyoto, Japan)
Flower Vase
Ceramic
Hexagonal brown vase with a thin, flared neck. Decorated with engraved geometric designs.
Cup, Tea Ceremony, 1800
Ceramic
Rounded cup, slightly flattened at on one side. The outside is painted in beige crackle glaze and marked with the Tokugawa mon in underglaze blue. The inside is painted in brown crackle glaze, becoming darker towards the bottom.
Make/Maker: Tokushima Ware (Tokushima Island, Japan)
Saucer, 1870
Ceramic
Small round saucer of cream pottery painted in off-white crackled glaze with a dark grey rim. The centre is decorated with a kirimon in low relief with a simple border.