Old Tanba Sanshō Jar

Very rare early Edo period storage jar from Sasayama in present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. With its sharp-edged shoulders, broad flat base, and slightly tapered body, this jar illustrates a Japanese type of storage jar invented by Tanba potters to promote and export one of the local famous goods known as asakura sanshō, or "Japanese pepper." Asakura sanshō (Zanthoxylum piperitum var. inerme) is a local variety of the common Japanese pepper, which is closely related to the Chinese Szechuan pepper.

However, asakura sanshō only grows wild in the mountains of Hyōgo Prefecture and has been popular throughout Japan since the late 16th century for its fresh and bright aroma. The importance of this local product is underscored by the characters engraved on the wall of the pot, which refer to its contents. This shows that the production of the vessel had only one purpose, and it is believed that the jars with the impressed product name were presented to the local daimyō or even the shōgun.

Only a few Tanba vessels with the impressed characters "asakura sanshō" exist today, and none of the known examples are of the type shown here. Only a few Tanba vessels with the impressed characters "asakura sanshō" exist today, and none of the known examples are of the type shown here. Another vessel of similar shape but with an opaque black glaze from the same period was published in Karā nihon yakimono, vol. 8, Tanba, Tankō-sha 1974. Another vessel of round shape with the same type of ash glaze, but without the impressed characters, is also presented by Galerie Kommoss under inventory number 18.017.

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