Onta Yaki Tobikanna Bowl — Chattered Herringbone Pattern, Cream Glaze, Stamped Footring

This hand-thrown Onta ware (Onta-yaki, 小鹿田焼) bowl comes from Sarayama village in Hita, Ōita Prefecture — a folk-pottery community designated a UNESCO Important Intangible Cultural Property, where potters still use kick wheels and water-powered clay mills (karausu). The bowl has a steep, conical wall rising to a wide, gently everted rim. The exterior is covered edge-to-foot in dense tobikanna (jumping-blade chatter-carving) — tight diagonal rows of chattered dashes forming a rippling, woven texture beneath a warm oatmeal-cream glaze. The interior is left plain in the same cream glaze, letting the carved exterior read as the focal decoration — a simpler, single-tone treatment compared to Onta pieces finished with poured green uchikake glaze. 

Details:

• Origin: Onta ware (Onta-yaki), Sarayama, Hita, Ōita Prefecture, Japan — traditional mingei folk kiln

• Form: Deep conical bowl with everted rim, tall straight footring

• Technique: Tobikanna (chatter-carved) diagonal dash pattern, covering the full exterior

• Glaze: Cream/oatmeal glaze, inside and out

• Base: Unglazed footring in reddish-brown stoneware, with impressed circular kiln stamp

• Condition: Good vintage/secondhand condition — please see photos for glaze speckling, small firing marks, or wear consistent with age

• Quantity: Single piece

• Dimensions: approx. (Diameter) 12cm x (H) 5cm