Japanese Edo Seto Ware Horse Eye Plate 18th Century

A shallow plate from the Edo period of Japan that has a potter’s sensibility.

The heavy ceramic shallow bowl/plate has been glazed in a thick pale brown glaze and decorated with a darker iron brown glaze in a design of concentric circles. The glaze is thick, unctuous, bumpy and spotted. The lip is painted in the same glaze. There are five saggar marks in the central well of the plate. The flat shallow cut foot and base are also iron brown.

There are no marks or labels.

Provenance: The piece was a part of W. Gordon Menzies’ collection. Gordon was the curator of Crane Gallery in Seattle for many years.

8 ¼” (21.0 cm) diameter x 1 3/8” (3.4 cm) deep. Weighs 1 lb 3.7 oz (560 g)

The base has chips that were painted over in production. The glaze in the central well has spotting from stacking during firing. The foot is worn and shows the clay through the iron brown. There is a hairline from the mouth through one of the “horse eyes”.

An antique plate from a school of hands-on pottery that is relevant today with the popularity of mid-century design.