 The Oribe Scarf features the unique patterns and colours of Japan's historic and highly distinctive Oribe ceramics. This style, which dates back to the late 16th century, bears the name of its creator, the samurai and tea ceremony master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615).
Distinctive ceramics are an essential element of the Japanese tea ceremony. In Furuta Oribe's day the fashion was for restrained, almost rustic styles. The ceramics that he created, however, were radically different - characterised by patches of glossy dark green copper glaze, balancing areas of patterning painted straight onto the cream stoneware body of the pottery. A variation featured the same dark green glaze on a deep red stoneware body.
 Typical patterns are geometric or floral, often divided up into a series of sections or 'windows' which frame and/or divide the surface of the pottery. The painting style is bold and dynamic, using a brown or black iron oxide pigment.
 All this was a radical departure from standard ceramic designs and a clear challenge to the refined values and aesthetics of the day. Furuta Oribe's contemporaries appear to have been shocked and impressed in equal measure and Oribe Ware quickly became a sensation. Oribe-style pottery continues to be made in the Seto and Mino kilns of Japan's Gifu Prefecture and is widely used in homes and restaurants. It is a great tribute to Furuta Oribe's adventurous sense of creativity that 400 years on Oribe Ware still appears avant-garde.
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