Back
Menu Close

Shino

Shino glaze emerged in the 16th century in Japan during the Momoyama period (1568–1600). It is identified by thick white glazes, red scorch marks, and a texture of small holes.

In the 1930s and 1940s, two Japanese potters, Toyozo Arakawa and Hajime Katō, developed the first modern Shino glaze by studying Momoyama Shino pots. Working independently, in 1974, Virginia Wirt, a student of ceramist Warren MacKenzie at the University of Minnesota, developed a glaze formula that also sought to imitate the historical exemplars. Her glaze was the first American Shino and has since become one of the more popular glazes in American pottery studios.