A very unusual Chawan in the shape of an inverted skull wrapped in a cloth-lined chirimen (crepe-silk) pouch enclosed in a box dated Meiji 34 (1901). Much of the dark clay is raw and visible, the inside and outer rim covered with deeply crackled pale glaze which runs in rivulets over the outer sculpted surface. It is 13 cm (5 inches) diameter, 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Skulls in Japanese art and Buddhist liturgy are deeply layered symbols, spanning the sacred and the profane, the didactic and the aesthetic—from spiritual contemplation to social critique. Their popularity in the 19th to early 20th century can be traced to a confluence of religious, aesthetic, and socio-political factors during a time of major cultural upheaval. The prevalence of the motif reflects not just continuity with Buddhist themes of mujō, but also Japan's confrontation with modernity, mortality, and identity during times of great transformation.
