The diminutive size, compact shape and narrow neck on this type of jar is thought to be reminiscent of a crouching person. Eighteenth-century tea practitioners began calling these works uzukumaru, or crouching jar.
Scholars suggest that this type of small jar with a neck and mouth considerably narrower than other Shigaraki types might have been originally intended for use as a ritual sake flask at Shinto shrines. The flanged mouth that appears on Chinese ceramic flasks and domestic Seto stoneware copies was designed for pouring liquids. This small jar might have been produced as a regional substitute for Seto or Chinese flasks that were difficult to obtain.
Born in Gosei, Nara Prefecture, Tsujimura has had innumerable solo exhibitions in Japan and in Europe, including a retrospective at the Chado Museum, Kyoto in 1999.