A rare and beautiful Binshi vase covered in tortoise-shell glaze (Bekko-yu) from the Hirasa kilns. Dating from the later Edo period, it is 11 cm (4-1/2 inchese) diameter, 17.5 cm (6-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Following the Japanese invasion of Korea in the late 16th century Shimazu Yoshihiro brought to Japan with his returning army Korean potters who established a kiln in Uzumachi (Modern day Nagasaki prefecture).This was the origin of Kochosa-yaki.This rough texture is indicative of that style, however Kochosa was mostly dark glaze on a deep red clay.Genryuin works picked up where Kochosa leaves off, founded in 1663 by Ono Genryu.This kiln lasted a little less than a century, closing in the mid 1700s.Hirasa is said to have begun in 1786 as the personal kiln of the Hongo Clan, Lords of Satsuma, incorporating some of these earlier styles into a complex melee of wares from blue and white porcelain to rich iron glazes and sansai wares.
