Jar

As wet-rice farming took root in Japan during the Yayoi period (ca. 5th century BC–3rd century AD), people designed new types of pottery suited to their agricultural lifestyle. The narrow mouth of this jar suggests it would have been used for storage, while pots with wider mouths were intended for cooking. This is an earthenware jar used for storage. When wet-rice farming took root in Japan during the Yayoi period, people shifted to a rice-centered diet, with pottery also changing as a result. This transition saw the emergence of objects made for specific purposes, including pots for cooking, jars for preserving food, and bowls and footed trays for serving food.

This type of jar was prevalent in the Ise Bay area during the late Yayoi period. It exudes a stately atmosphere with its wide-open mouth and a body that swells out toward the bottom. The whitish surface is colored with shades of red, while a zig-zag mountain pattern and a sequence of dots have been engraved on the shoulder using a spatula-shaped tool. The gentle, refined shape harmonizes wonderfully with the designs and the coloring to create a jar of outstanding beauty. For this reason, this type of object is known as 'Palace Style' because it exudes an elegance comparable to the pottery excavated from the Knossos Palace in Greece.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.