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BearTrack Farm Pottery             Shino       Shino glazes originated in the Mino region of Japan during the Momoyama period (AD 1573-1615).  During this time, Japanese ceramics were intimately linked with the Buddhist tea ceremony and controlled by the aesthetices of the tea masters.  Shino is named after shogun Shino Soshin (AD 1444-1525), who had a favorite tea bowl from China with a white feldspathic glaze.   Shino glaze recipes are very simple, yet they are capable of diverse appearances from white to black, through innumberable shades of brown and iron-red, to gold and iridescent.  Iron oxide is the main colorant, whether in the clay body, an underlying slip, or from the clay in the glaze recipe, and for this reason shinos rely heavily on the firing to produce their beutiful colors.