Oribe History
Oribe is a visual style named after the late-16th-century tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615). It’s most often seen in pottery, but extends to textiles and paintings. Oribe was not an actual potter, but (like many other influential figures in Japan’s art history) something akin to an art director or designer. He embodied the spirit of wabi tea so completely that he was able to give it form in a truly new and unique vision. I can only imagine the shock and excitement generated when his boldly formed, often intentionally distorted chawan (tea bowl), decorated with green and brown glazes and abstract designs, appeared on the tea ceremony scene in Kyoto.