Sake Bottle with Design of a Heron, Flowering Plants, and a Poem

These bottles were used for serving sake. In the 19th century, local kilns manufactured large ceramic bottles for distributing sake, and also made smaller serving bottles. Here, the bottles were used by commoners. They are distinguished from finely made ceramics by their sturdy forms, simple embellishments and casual designs. Their rustic and simple elegance was highly prized by the advocates of the Mingei (folk art, or art of the people) movement, which believed the embodiment of art could be found in the functional objects that were made from natural materials.