Jar (tsubo), Jōmon, Kasori E style

Provenance: Tetsuro Ikeda Collection, Tokyo

A spectacular earthenware jar in the Kasori E style of the Middle Jōmon period, distinguished by its flamboyant and exuberant decoration. The vessel features a wide flaring neck adorned with pierced and spiralling protrusions, as well as a cylindrical body decorated with incised patterns and applied plastic volutes. The surface is brownish, with traces of slip and visible restorations on the neck and body.

Developed in the Kantō region (present-day Chiba and Tokyo), the Kasori E style belongs to one of the most creative phases of Jōmon culture. Too elaborate for domestic use, these vessels were most likely intended for communal rituals associated with offerings, ceremonial feasts, or ancestor worship.