Dish with Grasses and Rocks, late 1500s-early 1600s. Mino ware is stoneware produced in the Mino area of present-day Gifu prefecture in central Japan. Mino ware with a gray colour like this piece is called nezumi-shino , or "mouse-gray" Shino, after its glazing technique. The gray colour and white design of grasses was achieved by applying an iron-oxide slip to the surface, and then carving through to the white clay before covering the whole surface in glaze and firing. In its design, the serving dish emulates Chinese ceramic prototypes, but its shape recalls wooden and lacquered trays commonly used in Japan at the time of its production.