Japanese Antique Seto Shino Pottery Bakeneko Cat Yokai Oil Plate Abura-zara
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/2/7/132721643/published/pxl-20240318-040156966-fotor-bg-remover-20240317212828.png?1710736731)
For sale:
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See also:
Type: Oil Plate (Abura-zara)
Material: Ceramic Pottery
Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912) or newer
Origin/Maker: Seto ware, Japan. Unsigned.
Size: 6-3/4" diameter (17.145 cm)
Weight: 13.9 oz (394 g)
Provenance:
Present: Ryan Snooks collection of Japanese & Asian Decorative Art
Previous: Private Collection
Collected: Seller from Japan
Condition: Item is used in good condition commensurate with age, see photos. Three original to manufacture stilt marks on top and five stilt marks on bottom.
Subject: Design of a bakeneko (shapeshifting cat monster) yokai (monster / spirit) wearing the hat of an official, on a Shino Seto oil plate (abura-zara). Oil plates were used to catch oil used with oil lanterns (which coincidentally gave rise to stories of the bakeneko / nekomata cat yokai, as cats would stand on their hind-legs to drink this fish oil, which would give them a monstrous bipedal appearance).
From wikipedia:
The bakeneko (化け猫, "changed cat") is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyō, or supernatural cat. It is often confused with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai. The distinction between them is often ambiguous, but the largest difference is that the nekomata has two tails, while the bakeneko has only one.
There are legends of bakeneko in various parts of Japan, but the tale of the Nabeshima Bakeneko Disturbance in Saga Prefecture is especially famous.
OriginThe reason that cats are seen as yōkai in Japanese mythology is attributed to many of their characteristics: for example, the pupils of their eyes change shape depending on the time of day, their fur can seem to cause sparks when they are petted (due to static electricity), they sometimes lick blood, they can walk without making a sound, their wild nature that remains despite the gentleness they can show, they are difficult to control (unlike dogs), their sharp claws and teeth, nocturnal habits, and their speed and agility.
Many other animals appear as yōkai in old tales and display similar attributes: the deep tenacity of snakes, the ability of foxes (kitsune) to shapeshift into women, and the brutality of bake-danuki in eating humans depicted in the Kachi-kachi Yama folktale from the Edo period. However, cats figure in a great number of tales and superstitions because they live with humans yet retain their wild essence and air of mystery.
One folk belief about the bakeneko is that they lick lamp oil. In the Edo period encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue, it is said that a cat licking this oil is an omen of an impending strange event. People in the early modern period used cheap fish oils in lamps, e.g. sardine oil; that could explain cats wanting to lick them. Also, at that time the Japanese diet was based on grains and vegetables, and while the leftovers were fed to the cats, as carnivores, the cats would have lacked for protein and fat and therefore been even more attracted to lamp oils. Moreover, the sight of a cat standing on its hind legs to reach a lamp, its face lit with anticipation, could have seemed eerie and unnatural, like a yōkai. The stealing of household objects is commonly associated with many Japanese ghosts, and thus the disappearance of lamp oil when a cat was present helped to associate the cat with the supernatural.
The mysterious air that cats possess was associated with prostitutes who worked in Edo-period red-light districts. This was the origin of a popular character in kusazōshi (among other publications), the bakeneko yūjo.
Folk legends[edit]As with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai which is said to evolve from a cat whose tail split into two when it grew old, there are folk beliefs across Japan about aged cats turning into bakeneko. There are tales of cats that became bakeneko after being raised for twelve years in Ibaraki Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture, and for thirteen years in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture. In Yamagata District, Hiroshima Prefecture, it is said that a cat raised for seven years or longer will kill the one that raised it. There are also many regions where, due to this superstition, people decided in advance for how many years they would raise a cat. Depending on the area, there are stories in which cats that were brutally killed by humans would become bakeneko and curse that human. Bakeneko stories are not only about aged cats, but also sometimes about revenge against cruel humans.
The abilities attributed to bakeneko are various, including shapeshifting into humans, wearing a towel or napkin on the head and dancing, speaking human words, cursing humans,[13] manipulating dead people, possessing humans, and lurking in the mountains and taking wolves with them to attack travelers. As an unusual example, on Aji island, Oshika District, Miyagi Prefecture and in the Oki Islands, Shimane Prefecture, there is a story of a cat that shapeshifted into a human and wanted to engage in sumo.
The legend that cats could speak may have arisen from misinterpreting the cat's meowing as human language; for this reason some would say that the cat is not a type of yōkai. In 1992 (Heisei 4), in the Yomiuri newspaper, there was an article that argued that when people thought they had heard a cat speak, upon listening a second time, they realized that it was simply the cat's meowing and that it was only coincidence that it resembled a human word.
In the Edo period (1603–1867), there was a folk belief that cats with long tails like snakes could bewitch people. Cats with long tails were disliked, and there was a custom of cutting their tails. It is speculated that this is the reason that there are so many cats in Japan with short tails now, natural selection having favored those with short tails.
Folk beliefs that cats can cause strange phenomena are not limited to Japan. For example, in Jinhua, Zhejiang, in China, it is said that a cat that had been raised by humans for three years would start bewitching them. Because cats with white tails are said to be especially good at this, refraining from raising them became customary. Since their ability to bewitch humans is said to come from taking in the spiritual energy of the Moon, it is said that when a cat looks up at the Moon, it should be killed on the spot, whether its tail has been cut or not.
The tale of Takasu GenbeiOne famous bakeneko story is about a man named Takasu Genbei, whose mother's personality changed completely after his pet cat went missing for many years. His mother avoided the company of friends and family and would take her meals alone in her room. When the family peeked in on her, they saw a cat-like monster in the mother's clothes, chewing on animal carcasses. Takasu, still skeptical, slew what looked like his mother, and after one day his mother's body turned back into his pet cat that had been missing. Takasu then tore up the floorboards of his mother's room to find her skeleton hidden there, her bones gnawed clean of all flesh.
Location:
Japanese Antique Seto Shino Pottery Bakeneko Cat Yokai Oil Plate Abura-zara
www.ebay.com/sch/xcoasterxtreme/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&rt=nc&LH_Auction=1
See also:
Type: Oil Plate (Abura-zara)
Material: Ceramic Pottery
Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912) or newer
Origin/Maker: Seto ware, Japan. Unsigned.
Size: 6-3/4" diameter (17.145 cm)
Weight: 13.9 oz (394 g)
Provenance:
Present: Ryan Snooks collection of Japanese & Asian Decorative Art
Previous: Private Collection
Collected: Seller from Japan
Condition: Item is used in good condition commensurate with age, see photos. Three original to manufacture stilt marks on top and five stilt marks on bottom.
Subject: Design of a bakeneko (shapeshifting cat monster) yokai (monster / spirit) wearing the hat of an official, on a Shino Seto oil plate (abura-zara). Oil plates were used to catch oil used with oil lanterns (which coincidentally gave rise to stories of the bakeneko / nekomata cat yokai, as cats would stand on their hind-legs to drink this fish oil, which would give them a monstrous bipedal appearance).
From wikipedia:
The bakeneko (化け猫, "changed cat") is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyō, or supernatural cat. It is often confused with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai. The distinction between them is often ambiguous, but the largest difference is that the nekomata has two tails, while the bakeneko has only one.
There are legends of bakeneko in various parts of Japan, but the tale of the Nabeshima Bakeneko Disturbance in Saga Prefecture is especially famous.
OriginThe reason that cats are seen as yōkai in Japanese mythology is attributed to many of their characteristics: for example, the pupils of their eyes change shape depending on the time of day, their fur can seem to cause sparks when they are petted (due to static electricity), they sometimes lick blood, they can walk without making a sound, their wild nature that remains despite the gentleness they can show, they are difficult to control (unlike dogs), their sharp claws and teeth, nocturnal habits, and their speed and agility.
Many other animals appear as yōkai in old tales and display similar attributes: the deep tenacity of snakes, the ability of foxes (kitsune) to shapeshift into women, and the brutality of bake-danuki in eating humans depicted in the Kachi-kachi Yama folktale from the Edo period. However, cats figure in a great number of tales and superstitions because they live with humans yet retain their wild essence and air of mystery.
One folk belief about the bakeneko is that they lick lamp oil. In the Edo period encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue, it is said that a cat licking this oil is an omen of an impending strange event. People in the early modern period used cheap fish oils in lamps, e.g. sardine oil; that could explain cats wanting to lick them. Also, at that time the Japanese diet was based on grains and vegetables, and while the leftovers were fed to the cats, as carnivores, the cats would have lacked for protein and fat and therefore been even more attracted to lamp oils. Moreover, the sight of a cat standing on its hind legs to reach a lamp, its face lit with anticipation, could have seemed eerie and unnatural, like a yōkai. The stealing of household objects is commonly associated with many Japanese ghosts, and thus the disappearance of lamp oil when a cat was present helped to associate the cat with the supernatural.
The mysterious air that cats possess was associated with prostitutes who worked in Edo-period red-light districts. This was the origin of a popular character in kusazōshi (among other publications), the bakeneko yūjo.
Folk legends[edit]As with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai which is said to evolve from a cat whose tail split into two when it grew old, there are folk beliefs across Japan about aged cats turning into bakeneko. There are tales of cats that became bakeneko after being raised for twelve years in Ibaraki Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture, and for thirteen years in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture. In Yamagata District, Hiroshima Prefecture, it is said that a cat raised for seven years or longer will kill the one that raised it. There are also many regions where, due to this superstition, people decided in advance for how many years they would raise a cat. Depending on the area, there are stories in which cats that were brutally killed by humans would become bakeneko and curse that human. Bakeneko stories are not only about aged cats, but also sometimes about revenge against cruel humans.
The abilities attributed to bakeneko are various, including shapeshifting into humans, wearing a towel or napkin on the head and dancing, speaking human words, cursing humans,[13] manipulating dead people, possessing humans, and lurking in the mountains and taking wolves with them to attack travelers. As an unusual example, on Aji island, Oshika District, Miyagi Prefecture and in the Oki Islands, Shimane Prefecture, there is a story of a cat that shapeshifted into a human and wanted to engage in sumo.
The legend that cats could speak may have arisen from misinterpreting the cat's meowing as human language; for this reason some would say that the cat is not a type of yōkai. In 1992 (Heisei 4), in the Yomiuri newspaper, there was an article that argued that when people thought they had heard a cat speak, upon listening a second time, they realized that it was simply the cat's meowing and that it was only coincidence that it resembled a human word.
In the Edo period (1603–1867), there was a folk belief that cats with long tails like snakes could bewitch people. Cats with long tails were disliked, and there was a custom of cutting their tails. It is speculated that this is the reason that there are so many cats in Japan with short tails now, natural selection having favored those with short tails.
Folk beliefs that cats can cause strange phenomena are not limited to Japan. For example, in Jinhua, Zhejiang, in China, it is said that a cat that had been raised by humans for three years would start bewitching them. Because cats with white tails are said to be especially good at this, refraining from raising them became customary. Since their ability to bewitch humans is said to come from taking in the spiritual energy of the Moon, it is said that when a cat looks up at the Moon, it should be killed on the spot, whether its tail has been cut or not.
The tale of Takasu GenbeiOne famous bakeneko story is about a man named Takasu Genbei, whose mother's personality changed completely after his pet cat went missing for many years. His mother avoided the company of friends and family and would take her meals alone in her room. When the family peeked in on her, they saw a cat-like monster in the mother's clothes, chewing on animal carcasses. Takasu, still skeptical, slew what looked like his mother, and after one day his mother's body turned back into his pet cat that had been missing. Takasu then tore up the floorboards of his mother's room to find her skeleton hidden there, her bones gnawed clean of all flesh.
Location:
Japanese Antique Seto Shino Pottery Bakeneko Cat Yokai Oil Plate Abura-zara