If any of you have been lucky enough to have Jim Brashear as a ceramics art instructor at UAF, you have also looked at Jomon pottery. Jomon pottery is ancient ceramic pottery produced in Japan. These vessels and figures were produced between 14500 BCE to 100 BCE.
I chose Jomon pottery for my blog because I really enjoy pottery and I have tried to reproduce some of the works I have found online myself. I wish I had some photos of the pieces I recreated to post here but sadly I do not.
This blog was a little difficult to write due to the fact that it is basically impossible to know who the artist of such an old piece of art could be and it is also difficult to find out when specifically it was made.
Jomon pottery has a long time line and evolved over six periods. First was the Incipient Jomon period from 14500 to 8000 BCE. Then the Initial Jomon period from 8000 to 5000 BCE. The Early Jomon period was from 5000 to 2500 BCE and then the Middle Jomon period from 2500 to 1500 BCE. After that was the Late Jomon period from 1500 to 1000 BCE and finally, there was the Final Jomon period from 1000 to 100 BCE.
Throughout these eras, the pottery changed quite a bit. In the early stages, the pottery was very unrefined. The clay was low fired in bonfires. The vessels were very simplistic and had simple designs and textures added to them. With time, the vessels became more complex and the vessels looked much “cleaner” than before. Simple kilns were even introduced.
Incipient Period
Here you can see a pot made during the incipient period. It is very simple. The base of the pot is pointed which is typical for a pot from this time period. The bases were usually not flattened until later periods. The texture looks like it was made using a rope or something of that sort. It also looks like it was fired in a bonfire due to the blackened edges. I find it so insane that this far back in time, people already created these vessels. I always wonder how long it must have taken to produce these pots and how the firing process must have worked. Sadly, it is impossible for me to know who made this pot as it is so old.
Middle Period
Next, I skipped ahead to the middle period since the early period and incipient period are very similar in style. To the left, you can see a vessel made during the middle period. The bottom of the pot has been flattened out at this point and there are more designs added that are less simplistic than the ones from the previous periods. I really love this pot and all the designs added at the top of it.
Below is another pot that is also said to have been made during the middle period. The later middle period often had many coils incorporated in their pots which I wanted to demonstrate with this pot here. If anyone has ever made a larger vessel our of coils knows how long it takes. I have spent many hours making a large coiled vessel and it is very difficult since they can fall apart so easily if clay is too wet or too dry. I would have to say, after making a coiled vessel, I truly appreciate the wheel. So looking at these pots really blows my mind.
Final Period
Once again, I skipped ahead since there are many similarities within the late and final period. Many of them revolving around dogus. During the final period, many more ornate figurines were produced along with pots. Maybe you have seen the famous dogu figures before which you can see here to the right. It was common during this time for figurines to have large bug eyes like this. Many other dogus had other strange features like horns or cat faces. Dogus were pretty common humanoid clay figures that were produced during this time. We have actually dug up about 18,000 of them and you can find them in many museums so you may have possibly come across one at some point. There are many theories on why so many dogus were created here during this time. One of which is that the figurine was portraying the “mother goddess” or Venus. However, others believe they were simply made to be toys. Whatever the reason, I am glad they have made it this far and we can see them today. This dogu is located in the Tokyo National Museum.
A Modern Twist
I wanted to add a little modern twist to the blog as it revolves around very old pieces of art. During my research, I found a Japanese artist whose art is very influenced by the historical Jomon design. Taro Okamoto was born on February 26, 1911 in Kawasaki City, Japan. As he got older, he began oil painting at the Tokyo Fine Arts School. He later moved to Paris with his parents where he continued studying art. He was very influenced by Picasso’s art and how abstract it was as well. He was able to travel around quite a bit producing art in different countries such as Mexico. After his death in 1996, the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art was opened in honor of him in Tama Ward, Japan. You can also visit his old studio and home which is located in Aoyama in Tokyo. To the left, you can see probably his most famous sculpture, the Tower of the Sun made in 1970. I chose this piece because it really does have those strange faces that many of the Jomon figurines have. I also chose it since it was a sculpture instead of a painting like many of his other pieces. They have flat simple faces and large eyes. But they also are very abstract. Many of his paintings do remind me a lot of a mix between Jomon design and Picasso’s artwork. it’s really incredible to look at and to see the similarities.
I just really enjoy looking at these vessels and figurines and have been lucky enough to see them in some museums I have visited in the past. Hopefully when you come across one of these in the future, you will be able to identify it or remember some of the history that goes along with these amazing pieces. (more…)