The drinking of tea and spirits are rituals in Japanese culture and similar artistic criteria apply to both tea and sake wares. Guests do not customarily refill their own glass; table companions are expected to serve one another. This glazed stoneware sake bottle is a product of the traditional ceramic workshops founded in northern Kyūshū by the enterprising Hata family, which moved Korean potters to Kyūshū and northern Honshū after Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea in 1592–1597. Ritual tea sets were also produced for feudal lords. The workshop used local sandy clay with a high iron content, which gave the wares their red-brown colour. Narrow-necked wares serving to store liquor, soy sauce or vinegar were called tokuri, meaning “virtuous purpose”. The body is inscribed 高橋町松尾甚平: Takahashi-chō (Takahashi – High Bridge quarter or town), Matsuo Jinbei (the name of the producer or owner).
