The Maker Speaks
Flame-shaped Earthenware
Mirror of Their Frustration and Dilemma?
Mirror of Their Frustration and Dilemma?
Hello. Today I'm talking about the Flame-shaped Earthenware.
I suppose you have hardly heard Flame-shaped Earthenware. Have you ever? Let me, now, explain about it. Flame-shaped Earthenware are a kind of Jomon Earthenware said to have been made during the Japanese Jomon period. Jomon period means (about) 14,000 b.c. - 1,000 b.c. They say the Flame-shaped Earthenware were almost made during the middle Jomon period. It means they were made several thousand years earlier.
I have never been to several thousand years earlier like you have never. Time machine is nowhere. So I'd depend on my imagination. Several thousand years earlier, for what did they make the earthenware?
Flame-shaped Earthenware look so awful, don't they? They named it Flame-shaped, but nobody knows what the makers worked in mimicry of. The only clue is that they look so thorny and eerie. Why did they make awful ones in the earliest times? Why didn't normal earthenware work for them?
Cray doesn't tell a lie, and pottery surely show the inner world of the makers, said some potters. I don't need to disagree with them. Then, the Flame-shaped Earthenware must somehow show the inner world of the makers (when they first made the earthenware at least).
I suppose you can see Flame-shaped Earthenware have detailed designs. For what? The makers had time enough. Or they must have worked simply. Minute designs were (almost) needless when people used them practically. When you boil rice with an earthen vessel, do you want a minute design on it?
In the middle Jomon period, it is said they had some settlements and primal farming. Those must have let them live firmly, I suppose. And they had some free time. Most people must have had a pleasant chat each other in the free time like we do.
I guess it was important as precious information exchange. What information? Probably about birth, growing, trouble, and others. However, I suppose there were some misanthropes. They must hardly have had a chat with someone else. What on earth did they do in their free time? My imagination tells us they carried out creative activities. And Flame-shaped Earthenware were made by the activities.
They didn't like to be with someone else, and must have been frustrated when they had to join their communities. Without joining others, they'd have missed a meal. I suppose they were almost caught in a dilemma. The Flame-shaped Earthenware look thorny as a mirror of their frustration and dilemma, said my personal opinion.
Flame-shaped Earthenware Found at the Sasayama ruins Kept by Tokamachi City Museum File: Kaen type vessel of Sasayama-iseki.jpg from the Japanese Wikipedia （Photoed on Sep. 8, 2009） |
I have never been to several thousand years earlier like you have never. Time machine is nowhere. So I'd depend on my imagination. Several thousand years earlier, for what did they make the earthenware?
Flame-shaped Earthenware look so awful, don't they? They named it Flame-shaped, but nobody knows what the makers worked in mimicry of. The only clue is that they look so thorny and eerie. Why did they make awful ones in the earliest times? Why didn't normal earthenware work for them?
Cray doesn't tell a lie, and pottery surely show the inner world of the makers, said some potters. I don't need to disagree with them. Then, the Flame-shaped Earthenware must somehow show the inner world of the makers (when they first made the earthenware at least).
Flame-shaped Earthenware Found at the Dodaira ruins Kept by Kyoto University File: 堂平遺跡出土 深鉢形土器 火焔型土器.JPG from the Japanese Wikipedia （Photoed on Sep. 17, 2017） |
In the middle Jomon period, it is said they had some settlements and primal farming. Those must have let them live firmly, I suppose. And they had some free time. Most people must have had a pleasant chat each other in the free time like we do.
I guess it was important as precious information exchange. What information? Probably about birth, growing, trouble, and others. However, I suppose there were some misanthropes. They must hardly have had a chat with someone else. What on earth did they do in their free time? My imagination tells us they carried out creative activities. And Flame-shaped Earthenware were made by the activities.
They didn't like to be with someone else, and must have been frustrated when they had to join their communities. Without joining others, they'd have missed a meal. I suppose they were almost caught in a dilemma. The Flame-shaped Earthenware look thorny as a mirror of their frustration and dilemma, said my personal opinion.
