Antique Aokubi Tokkuri (Sake Decanter); Thiel Collection

Antique "Aokubi" Sake Tokkuri with blue glaze running down the rim, neck, and shoulder of the body initially covered in a black glaze. The blue color may be from a nuka (rice husk ash) glaze. Old folk pots like this as tokkuri were made all over Japan, but it is possibly from a Mashiko kiln in the late 1800's or very early 1900's, due to the addition of a kaki (persimmon-colored) glaze inside the foot ring.  "Aokubi" means "blue neck", and also applies to those that might appear as green in the West. Some shades considered green in the West are labeled as "blue" in Japan (i.e. the green traffic light in Japan is also called "ao" [blue]). Such minimally adorned tokkuri were popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's and are an excellent example today of the simple beauty of old Japanese folk crafts. H. 9.125"(23cm) x Dia. 5.25"(13.5cm). 713 grams. The Thiel Family has graciously allowed me to select a number of items from their parents’ extensive private collection of Japanese and Japa