Seto Horse-eye Plate (uma-no-me zara)

These heavily potted stoneware plates with bold oval-shaped patterns are known as uma-no-me zara (horse-eye plates). Painted in underglaze iron pigments on a crackled ground, the patterns symbolize energy and strength. Horse-eye plates were made at the Seto kilns in the late Edo period and used as serving plates in restaurants, inns and private homes along the Tokaido Road that linked Edo (present-day Tokyo) to Kyoto. They are the quintessential example of mingei (folk art) pottery.