The Potter's Wheel 169 



long before his time. 1 Of course, GyOgi is not the "inventor" of 

 the wheel, any more than Anacharsis the Scythian, or Hyperbius of 

 Corinth, or Talus, the nephew of Daedalus. Nevertheless it may be 

 that GyOgi, who, being a craftsman, was doubtless instrumental in 

 the advancement of the ceramic industry in Japan, brought the speci- 

 men of a wheel along on his mission; and, if nothing else, this tradition 

 would at least point to an introduction of the wheel from Korea. This 

 is the natural course of events that we should expect, for the prehistoric 

 pottery of Japan was solely made by hand. 2 The early historic pottery 

 found in the dolmens is wheel-shaped; but whether, with Gowland, it 

 is to be dated in the beginning of our era, is a debatable point. E. S. 

 Morse* has offered another kind of convincing testimony for the 

 fact that the early Japanese potter modelled by hand: the ancient 

 practice is still continued in its prehistoric form in various parts of the 

 empire, where many potters use only the hand in making bowls, dishes, 

 or teapots. The vessels employed as offerings at Shinto shrines are 

 usually made without the wheel, and are unglazed, — a phenomenon 

 that we likewise meet in ancient Rome and in ancient India. 



According to Morse, the typical form of the potter's wheel in Japan 

 consists of a wooden disk fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, and 

 three inches thick. This is fastened to a hollow axis fourteen or more 

 inches in length. A spindle with pointed end is planted firmly in the 

 ground; and on this the wheel is placed, the spindle passing up through 

 the hollow axis, and a porcelain saucer or cup being inserted in the 

 wheel to lessen friction as it rests on the spindle. The wheel itself 

 is on a level with the floor; and the potter, sitting in the usual Japanese 

 position, bends over the wheel, which he revolves by inserting a slender 

 stick in a shallow hole or depression near the periphery of the wheel. 

 With a few vigorous motions of his arm the wheel is set in rapid motion; 

 then, with his elbows braced against his knees, the whole body at rest, 

 he has the steadiest command of the clay he is to turn. As the wheel 

 slackens in motion, he again sets it twirling.* 



1 1 am unable, however, to admit Aston's statement that the text of the Nihongi 

 to which he refers contains evidence of this fact. This evidence is negative or inconclu- 

 sive, as the text in question speaks only of hand-made (ta-kujiri) small jars, which, ac- 

 cording to Aston, should lead to the conclusion that "this was exceptional," and 

 that fashioning on the wheel was the common practice of the time. In a.d. 588 the 

 first potters came to Japan from the Korean state Pektsi (Aston, /. c, p. 117). 



1 E. S. Morse, Shell Mounds of Omori, p. 9; Iijima and Sasaki, Okadaira 

 Shell Mound at Hitachi, pp. 2-5; N. G. Munro, Prehistoric Japan, p. 167. 



1 Catalogue of the Morse Collection of Japanese Pottery, p. 6. 



* Illustrations of the implements used by the Japanese brick-layer and potter 

 may be seen in Siebold, Nippon, Vol. VI, plate IV. 



