Jōmon

Sixteen thousand years ago, someone in what is now Japan pressed twisted cord into wet clay. They couldn't have known they were inventing one of humanity's most enduring art forms. Jōmon means 'cord-marked,' and these vessels—with their wild, flame-like rims and deeply textured surfaces—remain some of the most expressive ceramics ever made. The famous 'flame vessels' of the Middle Jōmon period feature elaborate sculptural rims that seem to dance with fire itself. These weren't decorative objects; they were cooking pots, burial urns, ritual vessels. The Jōmon people were hunter-gatherers who stayed in one place long enough to need—and make—pottery. Every piece was coiled by hand, fired in open pits at relatively low temperatures. The surfaces hold fingerprints, cord impressions, the marks of shells and bamboo.