"Ceramics are closely connected to the tea ceremony and central to Japanese culture. In this context Oribe wares represented a unique and major development, since they were the earliest Japanese ceramics to carry extensive multicolor decoration. Boldly painted with geometric and naturalistic designs, they display sensuous glazes, especially in a distinctive vitreous green, as well as a whole repertoire of playful new shapes. These dashing wares matched the vigorous, extroverted, rapidly changing world of the warlords. Their genesis has traditionally been ascribed to Furuta Oribe (1543/44-1615), a warrior and the foremost tea master of his time, who appears to have played a crucial role in redefining the aesthetics of Japan. Over seventy engaging vessels of Oribe ware, along with striking examples of other types of wares produced in the same milieu, make up the heart of this catalogue." "During the era of Oribe, a common aesthetic language bound all the visual arts more strongly than at any other time in Japan before or since, and intimate working relationships existed among artists in different media. The forces that nourished this creative energy, the transformations that occurred, and the splendid works that resulted - together constituting the subject of this catalogue - are discussed by twenty distinguished scholars." "Published in conjunction with an exhibition organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Japan, and held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from October 21, 2003, to January 11, 2004, Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan contains twelve essays and catalogue entries for more than 175 objects."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved