The piece was formerly from the Boney Collection. Alice Boney was a prominent dealer in Oriental art, until her death in 1988. During the 1940's and 1950's, she helped to organize exhibitions of art and furniture at the China Institute and elsewhere. ''She introduced leading Japanese artists and potters to America,'' said Amy Poster, the acting director of the Asian art department at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1958 Miss Boney went to Japan for six months and stayed for 16 years, returning annually to the United States to sell art. Miss Boney was self-taught, yet rose to become an adviser on Chinese and Japanese art to collectors and museums.

Shino ware (志野焼 Shino-yaki) is a type of Japanese pottery most identifiable for thick white glazes, red scorch marks, and texture of small holes. It is one of the Mino styles from the late 16th century. Like other Mino wares, the Shino style is based on older Seto with changes to shape, decoration, and finish. Forms are usually squat and cylindrical, thick but lightweight. Dishes, bowls, and tea utensils are most common. Pieces can be grey, red, or white, painted with iron oxide or decorated with glaze. Firings of Shino tend to be of lower temperature for a longer period of time, and then a slow cooling process. These conditions do not allow the glaze to melt fully, and the result is a thick glaze that often has a crawling pattern.

The iron pigment of the design normally turns deep brown but here appears light blue-gray under the thick, milky feldspar glaze -- one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Shino-type ceramics. Serving dishes like this were frequently used as part of a formal meal, or kaiseki, during a Japanese tea ceremony. Shino-style ceramics were manufactured in generous quantities during the early 17th century at technologically advanced kilns in the Mino region in west-central Japan, near Kyoto.