KERAMICS
Though the golden period of Japanese Keramic art was attained during
the Tokugawa dynasty, 1603-1868, yet its origin is lost in the mists of
antiquity. An interesting passage in an old Japanese chronicle shows
that in the times of the Emperor Suwinin, about the beginning of the
Christian era, the craft of the potter was the recognised industry of
certain tribes. After giving an account of the death and burial of the
Mikado’s brother the record proceeds:
“On this they assembled those who had been in his immediate service,
and buried them all upright round his sepulchre alive. For many days
they died not, but day and night wept and cried. At last they died and
rotted. Dogs and crows assembled and ate them. The Mikado, hearing
the sound of their weeping and crying, felt saddened and pained in
his heart. He commanded all his high officers saying: ‘It is a very
painful matter to force those whom we have loved during life to follow
us in death, and though it is an ancient custom why follow it if it
be bad? From now and henceforth plan so as to stop causing men to
follow the dead.’ On the death of the Empress, some time afterwards,
the Emperor called his advisers together, and asked them: ‘What shall
be done in the case of the present burying?’ Thereupon Nomi-no-Sukune
advanced, and said: ‘It is not good to bury living men standing at the
sepulchre of a prince, and this cannot be handed down to posterity. I
pray leave now to propose a convenient plan, and to lay this before
the sovereign.’ And he sent messengers to summon up a hundred of the
clay-workers’ tribe of the country of Idzumo, and he himself directed
the men of the clay-workers’ tribe in taking clay and forming shapes
of men, horses, and various things, and presented them to the Mikado,
saying: ‘From now and henceforth let it be the law for posterity to
exchange things of clay for living men, and set them up in sepulchres.’”
The result of Mr W. Gowland’s excavations of the dolmens, or burial
mounds, which date from about 200 B.C. to 600 A.D., has been the
discovery of a great deal of the ancient pottery--coarse ware unglazed
and unpainted, and decorated only with simple patterns of lines incised
in the clay while soft. The shapes, however, are often graceful and
pleasing. In the dolmens were also found the rude terra-cotta figures
of men above referred to.
For many centuries the art of the potter remained in very much the same
primitive condition. A coarse ware sufficed for the domestic utensils
of the common people, and lacquered vessels supplied the wants of the
more luxurious. There is, indeed, mention of Korean potters having been
brought over to Japan after the Empress Jingo’s victorious campaign,
and it is said that the art of glazing was practised at Hizen in the
eighth century.
Little real advance, however, was made till the thirteenth century,
when Kato Shirazayemon, better known as Toshiro, a native of Seto in
Owari, and the father of Japanese pottery, appears. Dissatisfied with
the results of the native kilns he visited China in 1223 to study the
methods practised there, and after six years’ absence returned to
Seto. His pottery is a brown stoneware of firm and dense texture,
and is covered with a glaze of a deep rich brown, sometimes mottled,
altogether a great advance on the previous product of the country.
The vessels made by him, mostly cha-ire, or tea-jars, used in the tea
ceremony, are now valued at fabulous prices by the Japanese dilettante.
A certain authority states that Japanese history has been denominated
by three factors: the sword, the tea-cup, and the paper house. The
effects of the first and the last have been already indicated, and a
few words here as to the second may not be out of place.
Legend ascribes a supernatural origin to the tea-plant. The Buddhist
saint Daruma, he who sat wrapt in meditation for eight long years so
that he quite lost the use of his lower limbs, once at his devotions
was overpowered by sleep. On awakening, filled with shame at his
frailty, he took a pair of scissors, and, snipping off the offending
eyelids, cast them indignantly from him. They took root where they
fell, and from them sprang a plant whose leaves had the magic quality
of driving away sleep from weary eyes. In the temples it was much
valued by the holy men, and a certain degree of ceremony or ritual
attended its use.
It was in the time of Yoshimasa, in the fifteenth century, that the
cha-no-yu, or tea ceremony, began to assume public importance. In his
peaceful retirement, surrounded by artists and philosophers, it was
practised by the ex-Shogun. The priest Shuko drew up a code of its
rules, characterised by a severe and dignified simplicity. The room
used was small, and plain to bareness, the utensils were unornamented,
but, though to the ordinary eye crude and rough, were much prized by
the connoisseur. Indeed, Yoshimasa often rewarded important services
not by a grant of land but by the gift of a valued tea-jar.
A hundred years later Hideyoshi revived the ceremony, and its rules
were revised by the famous philosopher Rikiu, the greatest of all the
Cha-jin, or tea professors. Rikiu considered that the essentials of the
tea ceremony were: “Purity, peacefulness, reverence, and abstraction.”
“It was important for the guest to come with clean hands, but much more
so with a clean heart.” Social rank was ignored: those present took
rank according to their standing and reputation as Cha-jin. The most
perfect courtesy and politeness governed all the proceedings. Frivolous
or worldly talk was forbidden, and the conversation chiefly turned on
the merit of the kakemono adorning the room, the flower decoration
hanging before it, and the implements used in the ceremony.
A special ware was used for the tea bowls termed Raku ware. It is
said first to have been made by a Kioto potter Ameya from a design by
Rikiu, and so delighted Hideyoshi that he presented the maker with a
gold seal, with the characters “Raku” (enjoyment) inscribed upon it,
with permission to use it as a stamp. The ware is soft and porous,
and covered with a thick, soft glaze. Not turned on the wheel but
shaped by hand, it is rough and uneven in shape, and usually bears no
ornamentation. Coarse and unsightly and rough as it may appear to the
uninitiated, to the eye of the connoisseur it possesses many beauties;
its irregular shape is comfortable to the hand, its soft glaze pleasant
to the lips, and is said even to impart a flavour to the tea.
As the relaxation of the most cultured of the land, the tea ceremony
had effects of far-reaching importance. As a corrective to the
military spirit its glorification of the gentler virtues was
invaluable, and to it in no small degree it is said the Japanese owe
their character as the most courteous nation in the world. In art,
though most strongly felt in the field of Keramics, its influence
extended widely, affecting to no small extent the various branches of
the minor decorative arts, and dominating, almost in a sense creating,
the arts of landscape gardening and flower arrangement.
With Hideyoshi’s revival of the tea ceremony, and the importation
of Korean potters, the real history of Japanese Keramic art begins.
Kilns were founded in many different parts of the country, and as each
produced its own distinctive ware the development of these local art
industries can best be traced separately.
The province of Hizen, lying in the south of the island of Kiushu, and
the nearest point of the Korean mainland being only some two hundred
miles away, it is natural that here the borrowed industry should first
take root.
The most ancient kiln was erected at Karatzu as early as the seventh
century, and a hundred years later glazing was there used for the
first time in Japan. So famous did the Karatzu ware become that
Karatzu-mono, “things of Karatzu,” became the current name for all
sorts of pottery. The Old Karatzu ware, however, was coarse and rough
in quality, though some of its rich brown glazes were not without
beauty.
In the sixteenth century Gorodayu Shonzui visited China and learned the
art of making porcelain, and on his return to Japan brought a quantity
of the clay with him. On the supply being exhausted, however, the
manufacture stopped.
After Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, towards the end of the century,
many captives were brought back, including a Korean potter, Risampei,
who discovered on the hills of Hizen a clay suitable for the making
of porcelain. Kilns were erected, and the new manufacture started in
earnest.
When the Dutch traders dealt with the port of Nagasaki the chief
article of their export was the porcelain ware of Arita--known as Imari
ware, from which port it was shipped to Nagasaki.
It is this ware that was distributed through Europe and gave the first
and totally erroneous idea of the Keramic art of Japan. For the “Old
Japan” ware, as it is called, was deliberately manufactured to suit
the vulgar taste of the barbarous foreigner, who demanded copious and
crowded decoration. It is almost ludicrous to compare it with the
ware manufactured at the same time for home use. The one, the work of
the artist Kakiyemon, is decorated with dainty and graceful designs,
which in their reticence and simplicity are the embodiment of good
taste; the other is quite un-Japanese in style, the ornament crowded
and overloaded with colour, and often a mere gaudy jumble. But the
“Old Japan” ware formed the models for half the factories of Europe,
and we only need to turn to the Old Crown Derby porcelain to find its
atrocities repeated with ludicrous fidelity.
In 1660 Prince Nabeshima established a kiln at Okawachi. It was
reserved for the finest porcelain only, which was made for his private
use, the sale being prohibited. Beautiful ware with a fine blue under
the glaze was the chief product, and at a later date fragile imitations
of flowers were made, of wonderful delicacy.
[Illustration:
A GROUP OF PORCELAIN
(_British Museum_)
1. Large Plate, Kutani ware (purple, blue, and green, on yellow
ground)
2. Plate, Imari ware (design by Kakiyemon, red, blue, green, and
yellow, on white ground)
3. Plate, Nabeshima ware (blue, on white ground)]
Another famous factory of Hizen is that at Mikawachi, where the Hirado
ware, perhaps the finest of all Japanese porcelains, was produced. The
factory was founded towards the end of the sixteenth century, and its
first manufacture was an earthenware covered with a blue-grey glaze.
In 1712, however, the discovery of fine porcelain stone was made in
the vicinity, and in 1751 Matsura, the feudal chief of Hirado, took
the kiln under his patronage, and for the next hundred years the ware
may be assigned the first place among Japanese porcelains; for not
only is the ground a pure and clear white, but the paté, free from
gritty particles, is of a fineness of texture which is not possessed
by other similar wares. With rare exceptions blue is the only colour
used in its decoration, not the deep Chinese blue nor yet the rather
weak tint of Nabeshima, but a delicate shade between the two. The
favourite decorative motive was a scene with pine-trees and children at
play. In ware of the finest quality seven children were introduced, in
the second quality five, and in the third three. Many charming pieces
were also made in plain white ware with pierced patterns or designs in
relief, and at a later date the factory became famous for a delicate
blue-and-white eggshell porcelain. Since 1830, however, the wares of
the factory have declined greatly in quality.
Until within the last forty years the Keramic arts of Japan were
only known to Europe by their porcelain, and only crude and inferior
specimens of that, but the pottery and faience which merited even more
attention were utterly unheard of. Since then matters have changed
very much, and the faience of Satsuma is now the most sought after of
all Japanese wares. But though Old Satsuma ware has become almost a
household word, and there are few collections but boast of a specimen
or two, the bulk of these objects are more or less clever imitations
of a later date, excellent often in themselves, but not the rare
and wonderful old Satsuma with its soft, ivory tint and its almost
imperceptibly crackled glaze.
The original kiln appears to have been founded by Prince Shimazu
Yoshihiro, chief of Satsuma, on his return from the Korean expedition,
from which he brought back seventeen skilled Korean potters. In 1598
a kiln was opened close to his castle at Chosa, in the neighbouring
province of Hiuga, which manufactured chiefly objects for the tea
ceremony not unlike those previously made at Seto; but the glazes were
of many varieties and very beautiful, some of them being exceedingly
rich and brilliant. Prince Yoshihiro took great interest in the
manufactory, settling handsome annuities on the most skilful potters,
and stamping the finest pieces of work with his own seal.
In the year 1618 Boku, one of the original seventeen Korean potters,
discovered in Satsuma a fine white clay or sand and other materials
suitable for the manufacture of a finer quality of faience, and the
result was a great improvement in the ware.
In 1630 the kilns were removed to Nawashiro, and by 1675 the ware had
reached a high degree of excellence. About this time Tangen, a pupil of
the great Kano painter Tanyu, was employed to paint or furnish designs
for the potters, and Satsuma Tangen now constitutes one of the greatest
treasures of the Japanese connoisseur. The decoration of such pieces as
remain is slight and sketchy, the designs usually landscape, bird, and
floral subjects, and the colours few and simple, often a reddish brown
only being used.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century two Satsuma potters, Hoko
of the Tatsumonji factory and Chiubei of the Tadeno factory, were sent
by Shimazu Tomonobu, the chief of the clan, to travel all over Japan,
visiting the different factories and learning the processes used in
each. They visited Hizen, Kioto, Bizen, Owari, and other places, and
particularly seem to have profited by their insight into the methods
used in the production of the enamelled faience of Awata, for after
their return, in 1795, may be dated a large increase in the manufacture
of enamelled Satsuma faience, Nishiki-de, and it is this faience that
is so widely known and valued as Old Satsuma.
The characteristics of this beautiful ware may be briefly noted. The
paté is close as pipeclay and almost as firm and hard as porcelain.
The chalky, porous nature of the newer work at once proclaims its late
date. The old glaze is soft, lustrous, and mellow, with an exceedingly
fine crackle. The decoration is simple, chiefly diapers and floral
subjects in comparatively few colours, and the pieces are invariably
small--tripod incense burners of about seven inches high being,
perhaps, the largest objects. The large examples profusely decorated
with human figures, peacocks, and other designs, are all of later
date belonging to the period of forgeries which set in with the great
increase of European trade after 1868.
[Illustration: VASE IN FORM OF LOTUS,
SATSUMA FAIENCE (18TH CENTURY)
(_From the Collection of Mr M. Tomkinson_)]
Of imitations there are many varieties. But first it may be mentioned
that, prior to 1868, undecorated white faience was largely made at
Satsuma, which was afterwards decorated at Tokio, but the refiring
necessary completely takes away, in most cases, the distinctive and
beautiful qualities of the crackled glaze.
The rarity of Old Satsuma ware may be judged from the fact that the
average number of genuine pieces offered for sale in Japan during the
last fifteen years has probably not been more than ten, and not more
than half of these have left the country.
Though the Satsuma faience has the distinction of being the most
beautiful ware produced in Japan, it is in association with the
Kioto factories that we find most of the great names of Japanese
Keramics--Ninsei, Kenzan, and Hozen.
The wares of Kioto may be divided into three classes: first, the Old
Raku ware used in the tea ceremony; second, the decorated faience of
Awata and the neighbouring kilns; and third, the porcelain which was
the product of the early part of the nineteenth century.
During the civil wars which preceded the Tokugawa period the city of
Kioto, though the seat of the Imperial Court, dwindled rapidly in
importance; even the Mikado and his Kugé, or Court nobles, lived in
dire poverty. Its tide of prosperity did not turn until the seventeenth
century, and it is with the advent of Nomura Seisuke (also called
Seiyemon and Seibei) that the great period begins. His native place was
Ninnaji, near Kioto, and, taking the first syllable of that name and
adding to it the first syllable of his own, he adopted the name Ninsei,
with which he stamped his work.
As already described, the porcelain makers at Hizen had learned the
secret of vitrifiable enamels as early as 1620, but it was guarded by
them most jealously. It is said, however, that between 1650 and 1655
Kurobei, a Kioto dealer in porcelain, obtained the precious secret from
an Aritu potter, Aoyama Koemon. The miserable man was immediately put
to death by his irate lord; but the secret was out, and passed from
the dealer to Ninsei, to the great future benefit of Japan. He applied
it to the decoration of faience with the most excellent results, for
his taste and skill as a decorative artist were unrivalled among his
contemporaries, and to his influence may be traced many of the most
charming developments of later years.
A man of birth, he was not actually a potter by profession, and had,
therefore, no fixed workshop, working at the factories of Awata,
Iwakura, and Mizoro. He seems to have made no secret of the processes
he had mastered, but gladly imparted them to those with whom he came
in contact, and to this fact is doubtless due the rapid rise in the
quality and increase in the output of the Kioto ware.
A word as to the Kioto kilns, which were all within a radius of a few
miles, may be here advisable. The best known were Awata, Iwakura, and
Mizoro; the others were grouped together under the general term Kyomizu.
Ninsei’s faience is almost worthy to compare with the best ware of
Satsuma, but is marked by a slightly darker colour, and is a trifle
fragile in appearance, lacking the firm solidity of the Satsuma ware.
Its crackle is fine and beautifully regular, giving the appearance of a
covering of fine netting. His glazes range from a metallic black to a
pearl white, through which a pink flush seems to spread.
His designs for decoration are simple and chaste, and the clear, pale
greens and blues and rich reds of his enamels are of exquisite quality.
After Ninsei’s death the next great name at Awata is that of Ogata
Shinsei, or Kenzan, a younger brother of the still more famous Ogata
Korin, painter and lacquerer, perhaps the greatest decorative artist
Japan has produced. Kenzan was also a decorator of great power and
originality. In complete contrast to the delicate harmonies of Ninsei,
his designs are rough and bold, but his colour is superb and his
decorative sense unerring. His work was at first confined to the
coarser wares of the cha-no-yu, and here the singular force of his
decoration harmonises well with the rude shapes, rough earthenware, and
rich glazes, so that the Kenzan Raku ware is indeed a thing of beauty.
But in faience he had equally great success. Once seen, his style can
be recognised anywhere; a rough sketch of a landscape, a branch in
blossom, a flight of birds, or the conventional shape of a flower,
dashed in with seeming carelessness, but each touch placed in exactly
the right spot for decorative fitness. A very fine specimen of his
work--a brown pot decorated with an extremely rich design of peacock’s
feathers, blue-green and purple--may be seen in the British Museum.
The third great name of the Kioto group is that of Nishimura Zengoro,
by Keramists known as Hozen. Born towards the end of the eighteenth
century, he was one of a long line of potters. In 1801-3 he studied at
the Awata factory, and soon his celadon and blue-and-white porcelain
became celebrated. His fame attracted the notice of the feudal chief
of Kiushu, who, in 1827, invited him to his province, and built a kiln
for him in his private park, at which he produced the well-known ware
called, from its stamp, Kairaku-en ware. Zengoro had made a special
study of glazes, and the great beauty of this ware is the rich harmony
of purple, blue, and yellow glazes which he obtained.
His versatility is shown by another ware which has an equally high
reputation--the “Eiraku,” or Kinrande (scarlet and gold brocade style).
This is a porcelain ware of great delicacy and beauty, and usually made
only in small pieces. The ground is of a soft coral red, upon which is
traced a wealth of decoration in gold, with here and there a mass of
rich blue.
Of the many other well-known names remaining among the Kioto potters
only passing mention can be made. In many families the same stamp
was used by one generation after another, rendering it difficult to
distinguish their individual work.
The Kinkozan, Hozan, Taizan, and Tanzan families carried the traditions
of Ninsei in Awata faience right down to the present day; while in the
beginning of the nineteenth century the Dohachi family and the Kyomizu
potter Rokubei followed in their decoration the newer naturalistic
school. Mention must also be made of Shuhei and Kantei, potters of the
end of the eighteenth century, who are regarded as the most eminent
masters of the little Japanese tea-pot, or kuisu, and also of their
contemporary Mokubei, a potter of so great ability that it is a pity
he confined himself almost entirely to imitations of Chinese and other
wares.
The history of the founding of the Kaga factories, which turned out
the Kutani ware, is interesting and curious. Maeda Toshiharu, feudal
lord of Daishoji, having discovered a bed of fine porcelain stone
near Kutani, established a kiln about 1650, under the charge of two
well-known potters--Tamura Gonzaemon and Goto Saijiro; but the venture
was not a success owing to the lack of knowledge of the workers. Not
to be outdone, Saijiro went to Hizen to learn there the secrets of
porcelain making. The only way in which he was able to do this was
by becoming a permanent member of the community. The manner in which
he accomplished this was peculiar. He took service in the house of a
potter, married a woman of the district, and worked there for several
years. When he had learned all there was to learn he calmly deserted
wife and family, and fled home to Kaga, where he imparted the needed
information. Shortly after this time, about 1664, the Kutani potters
were turning out wares of great beauty and individuality.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF VARIOUS WARES (_British Museum_)
1. Tea-Jar, by Toshiro I.
2. Tea Bowl--Raku Ware.
3. Tea Bowl after Ninsei.
4. Tea Bowl--Omuru, Kioto.
5 and 6. Tea Bowls, by Kenzan.
7. Kairaku-en Ware.
8. Kioto Ware.
9. Soma Ware.
10. Yatsushiro Ware.
11. Bizen Ware.
12. Banko Ware.]
Of these there were several kinds--the first, Ao-Kutani, was so called
from the deep green glaze (ao = green) which was largely used in
its decoration; and other glazes--yellow, purple, and soft Prussian
blue--made up a rich, low-toned harmony of great beauty. In the second
class of ware the Arita style of decoration was followed, except that
the Kutani potter used blue under the glaze very seldom, and only in
subordinate positions. Their chief colours were red--a soft, dull, rich
colour varying from Indian red to a russet brown--and yellow, purple,
and blue, supplemented by silver and gold.
Their designs were largely made by Morikaga, a pupil of Tanyu--
landscapes, birds, and flowers being the chief subjects.
A third famous ware of Kutani, which may be termed the red Kutani as
distinguished from the green, had a ground of rich red, with diapers or
medallions decorated in yellow, green, purple, and red enamels. Another
style had the ground entirely of red, to which designs were applied in
silver and gold, light green, and sometimes yellow and purple enamels.
For some reason the activity of the Kutani factory only continued
for about sixty years, and during the next hundred years there
followed a period of inaction. In the middle of the nineteenth century
the manufacture was revived, both the red and the green Old Kutani
wares being imitated, but with doubtful success. The modern colours,
especially in the case of the red, lack the softness of the old, and
are, comparatively speaking, harsh and glaring.
In 1827, at Edamachi Kanazawa, a kiln was founded which produced
a beautiful faience known as Ohi-yaki, which is characterised by
enamelled decoration of great delicacy and refinement.
The foregoing are the most important of the old Keramic arts, for the
most distinguished products of the pre-Meji days may be summed up as
the porcelain of Hizen and Kutani and the faience of Satsuma and Kioto.
A number of wares of lesser importance remain, chief among these being
the Owari wares.
It will be remembered that it was to Seto in Owari that Toshiro
returned after his visit to China in the thirteenth century, and
founded the industry which entitles him to the name of “The Father
of Japanese Pottery.” But from that time till the beginning of the
nineteenth century little change took place in the character of the
Seto wares, which continued to be stoneware and earthenware vessels,
and little else. About 1801, however, a Seto potter visited Hizen,
and after studying in the factories there returned, and founded a
porcelain manufactory in Seto. Soon they attained great proficiency in
the production of a blue-and-white ware which rivalled the products of
Hizen. Their large pieces were particularly fine examples of firing,
the technical difficulties to be overcome being enormous. The quality,
however, of this ware rapidly deteriorated after 1850.
At about the same time a soft-crackled faience was made at Nagoya by a
potter called Toyosuke. It is a soft-crackled faience of the Raku type,
covered on the inside with a greenish white glaze decorated with bold
floral designs, and on the outside with a thin coat of lacquer.
And now, for the remaining smaller branches of the industry a passing
mention must suffice.
In the province of Bizen was manufactured a curious hard stoneware
of a bluish grey colour, which chiefly took the form of vigorously
modelled figures of gods, men, animals, and birds. Indeed, in the Bizen
stoneware you find repeated in another form, but with the same vigour
and originality, the achievements of the netsuké carver and the tsuba
worker--Hotei, the pot-bellied god of contentment, being a favourite
subject for treatment.
At Ise a wealthy amateur named Gozayemon founded a kiln in 1736,
executing a ware which was known as Ko Banko. In the beginning of
the nineteenth century a potter, Mori Yusetsu, conceived the idea
of imitating this old ware. The imitator, however, was a much better
artist than his prototype, and soon the new Banko ware was both widely
different from, and of a much finer quality than, the old. This ware
was worked on a mould, which was placed inside the article, and the
clay pressed in with the fingers, the mould being afterwards removed in
sections. The decoration was vigorous and artistic, consisting often of
dragons, storks, etc., in relief.
In Higo a very beautiful ware called Yatsushiro was made. It is a
dense faience coated with a film of pale grey clay by immersion in
slip; the design, usually a delicate diaper, is then engraved and
the lines filled in with white clay--the whole being covered with a
finely-crackled glaze.
Mention must be made also of the beautiful eggshell ware of
Mino--delicate little saké cups and other vessels encased in envelopes
of bamboo basket-work; and also of the Fujina ware of Idzumo--a faience
decorated with beautifully executed designs of insects.
At Nakamura, in Iwaki, a kiln was opened in 1650, and here the ware
known as Soma ware was produced. It is said that the Kano painter
Naonobu, drew as a crest for Soma Yoshitane the galloping horse which
in varying forms is seen on almost every piece of this ware.
Other lesser kilns are too numerous to mention, and existed in almost
every province.
The British Museum possesses a good and varied collection of Japanese
Keramic ware, but, unfortunately, the lack of a catalogue and the
absence of any systematic arrangement, or even of proper labelling,
takes away much from its usefulness to the student.
[Illustration: A Japanese Fan]