The "Oribe" Plate.

Oribe pottery is not named after an area, like most Japanese ceramics, but after the person who started the tradition. Lets meet Furuta Oribe (1544 -1615). He was a samurai and also a famous tea master. He was born in Mino (today Gifu Prefecture). He lived during troubled times of Japanese History and served Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and also Tokugawa Ieyasu. But then he sided with the Toyotomi Clan and was ordered to commit seppuku by Ieyasu. Oribe's tea master was the famous Sen no Rikyuu, but the eccentric Oribe soon started his own way of serving tea, the Oribe Way (Oribe-ryuu) and also tought the Tea Ceremony to Ieyasu's son, Hidetada.
He soon began to make his own tea utensils and other pots and plates to serve food in a unique pottery style with a green glaze and unusual forms to suit his whims. His most famous disciples are Kobori Enshuu and Hon-ami Kooetsu.

I like the "Oribe style" because of it's freedom in shapes and decorations. Lines of brush strokes are very simple but so powerful. Shapes vary from piece to piece,because they just "happens" when a ceramist well experienced gets improvised by flows of pottery's wheel enerygy as the material clay change it's state seconds by seconds.

the Oribe Furuta(a warrior and a master of tea ceremony) lived through the era that Samurais battle around the country, Life of tomorrow was not assured.

One of most important phylosophy of Japanese tea ceremony is"Ichigo Ichie"," Treasure every meeting, for it will never recur." .This can be "zen" of everyday life for evey second we live. When you think there is no tomorrow comes, Your every move can be so conscious and real hornest to your heart so as old oribe.

Go wild!!

■Oribes