Centuries-old earthenware plate gets a special assist from a kitty, helping it become an ultra-rare, ultra-cute antique.
While the design of the plate, which was spotted by Japanese Twitter user @R_Perokun, was meant to be simple and unadorned, it looks like during the production process a kitty stepped right into the unhardened dish. The craftsman either didn’t notice the pawprint or decided to let it remain, and the plate’s eventual owner apparently didn’t mind one bit.
Yuzuki Castle was destroyed back in 1585, but the plate was found unbroken during excavations of the site. This implies that it wasn’t tossed in the trash as a defective piece of kitchenware, but lovingly used or displayed, and most likely by someone of fairly lofty status, since it was found within the castle grounds and not outside its walls in the areas where the commoners lived.
湯築城跡で出土した、ネコに踏まれてしまった土師器の破片。「ああああ、ちょっ、おまっ」っていう当時の人の声が聞こえてきそう。 pic.twitter.com/4zIqk1hp2s
— Rei(Pero) (@R_Perokun) May 8, 2016
“Cats have been doing whatever they want to since the olden days.”
“It’s like a kind of fossil now. This should be designated a national treasure.”
“So even in that era some people had a playful side.”
“I can totally imagine the potter seeing what the kitty did and being all ‘Cats are sooooo cute.’”
And now I’m sort of sad no cute animals stepped into the clay for my 100-yen mug.
It just goes to show that Japan has always had a soft spot for cats.
