By the 16th century, Japanese ceramics were in great demand for use in both the tea ceremony andthe kaiseki meal served before the more formal type of tea ceremonies. In Japan, wood and lacquer had traditionally been used for dining, and the use of ceramics for the kaiseki meal and tea ceremony helped to spur their use in homes. Equally important was the introduction in the late 15th century, probably from Korea, of a new and larger type of kiln that facilitated the manufacture of the high-fired, glazed stonewares characteristic of Japanese 16th- and 17th-century ceramics.

One of only two complexes that produced glazed ceramics prior to the 16th century, the Mino kilns were located around the modern cities of Tajimi, Toki, and Mizunami (excavations have uncovered over seventy kilns), and are noted for the development of new glazes, forms, and types of wares, particularly in the last quarter of the 16th century. This small food dish with a foliate rim is an example of Oribe ware, produced by the Mino kilns. More specifically, it is a type of Oribe ware classified as Green Oribe (ao-oribe) because of the use of a bright copper-green glaze, often called Oribe green. Unlike the majority of Green Oribe works, however, here the green glaze completely covers the piece. Incised under the glaze is an image of a scholar riding a donkey, which may have resonances appropriate to the ambiance of a tea ceremony; Chinese literature is replete with tales of famous and not-so-famous scholars riding away on donkeys, often to seek the solitude necessary for a contemplative life. In additionto the central image, motifs such as bamboo shoots, waves, and circles with flowerlike designs are incised under the glaze. Dishes of this type were produced at the Myodo kilns in the Mino region to be used as sets rather than as individual serving pieces.

Oribe wares are named after the influential tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615) because their bold, often distorted shapes and powerful decoration are believed to illustrate his taste and the style of his tea ceremony. A pupil of the influential tea master Sen no Rikyu (1521-1591), Oribe developed a more energetic, expressive, and individualistic style of tea, and is often cedited with the experimentation in shapes and forms that mark Japanese tea wares in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Recent excavations suggest that production of the famous Oribe wares was centered in a group of seven kilns located in the villages of Kujiri, Ohira, and Ogaya. An additional Oribe kiln has also been discovered in Tsumagi, which unlike the other three villages is located to the south of the Toki river. Production of Oribe ware began around 1590 and is believed to have lasted until about 1635.