Horse Eye Setoware Plate (Edo era)

This plate in traditional Seto ceramic is an excellent example of the functional and unsophisticated traditional dishes used for food in villages. This particular design, known as the "horse's eye" (umanome), was common on plates used in inns along the Tokaido Highway between Kyoto and Tokyo during the Edo period.

Painted in iron oxide with five concentric spirals along the circumference of the plate which represent the eyes of a horse. Heavy and very resistant, this plate is decorated with a cream-coloured glaze.