Autumn Special Exhibition Daimyō Collectors—Ceramic Masterpieces of the Owari Tokugawa Household

This exhibition focuses on the ceramic medium, selecting a truly diverse array of foreign and Japanese-made ceramics from among the more than 10,000 objects stored in the vaults of the Owari Tokugawa daimyō collection. Including widely-acclaimed ō-meibutsu famed tea wares, products of the private daimyō kilns known as “Oniwayaki,” various dishes for serving kaiseki cuisine, and vessels from the palace furnishings, these objects are examined jointly from the viewpoints of cultural history and ceramic history. We hope that you will enjoy this selection of numerous ceramics that were needed, selected, and used by the historical hereditary heads of the Owari Tokugawa clan, which stood second in line to the Tokugawa shogunal family. Through them, we further examine the broader aesthetics and value systems of pre-modern times that provided the context for these pieces.