Japanese chronicles claim that the first pottery was made in the year
660 B.C.; it was not, however, until the Christian era that the art made
any considerable advances. In the year 1223 A.D., great improvements
were made in manufacture and decoration of the ware. From that date to
the sixteenth century the great potteries of Owari, Hizen, Mino, Kioto,
Kaga, and Satsuma were established. The Rahn-Yaki, or crackled ware, was
first made at Kioto, at the commencement of the sixteenth century. The
best old Hizen ware, that which is still the most admired, was made
at Arita Hizen, in 1580 to 1585; the old Satsuma dates from 1592.
Consul-General Van Buren states that porcelain clays are found in nearly
all parts of the country, and the different kinds are usually found
in close proximity, and close to canals and rivers, which is of
considerable advantage, as affording a means of transport. In all cases
every variety of clay used in the manufacture of pottery is found in a
natural state; there is no necessity to manufacture the quartzose or
fusible clays as is done in other parts of the world, and which adds
considerably to the cost of the ware. One of the peculiarities in the
clay found in Japan is that it contains both the fusible and infusible
materials in such proportions as to make a light, beautiful,
translucent, and durable porcelain. At Arita, in Hizen, there is a clay
found which contains 783/4 per cent, of silica, and l73/4 per cent, of
alumina; from this clay is made the delicate, translucent eggshell ware,
without the addition of any other matter. From an adjoining bluff a clay
is taken which has 50 per cent, of silica, and 38 per cent, of alumina;
from this the common porcelain is made.
Potter's clay is found in very large quantities in the provinces of
Yamashiro, Hoki, Turoo Iyo, Hizen, Higo, Owari, Mikaera, Idyn, Musashi,
and Mino. In the whole of Japan there are 283 localities where the clay
is deposited; many of these only furnish inferior clays, but they are
all fitted for use in some of the various kinds of pottery. These clays
are thoroughly powdered by means of what is called "balance pounders,"
worked in some localities by water-power, but the work is often done by
hand. The powder is then dried, and stored on boards or in flat boxes.
This dough does not go through the process of fermentation. The shaping
is almost exclusively done on the potter's wheel, which is set on a
pivot working in a porcelain eye. As a rule, the wheel is turned by the
potter himself, but in Hizen it is kept in motion by means of a band
connected with its pivot and another wheel turned by a boy. In making
dishes of other shape than round, a crude mould is sometimes used. After
the clay has been shaped on the wheel, it is set away for drying, and
usually in two or three days it is considered sufficiently dry for
smoothing, which is done on the wheel with a sharp curved knife. The
material is now made into "bisque," or biscuit, by a preliminary baking
in small ovens, when it is ready for painting, if it is to be painted
on the biscuit; if not, it is ready for the glazing. In either event it
will then go to the large furnace for the final baking. The kilns for
this purpose are always built on hill sides, and are joined together,
increasing in size from the lower to the higher ones, and in number from
four to twenty five; these kilns are so constructed that the draught is
from the lowest one, in addition to which each kiln has its own firing
place. The result of this construction is that the upper ones are by
far the most heated, and the ware is arranged accordingly; that which
requires the least baking, in the lower kiln, and that which requires
the greatest heat, in the upper. These connecting kilns have the merit
of being heat saving, but they are usually small and badly constructed,
and the heat in none of them is uniform.
The glaze is made from the silicious clay and potash extracted from wood
ashes. This potash is not a pure white, and this accounts for the dirty
color usually to be observed in unpainted Japanese ware. In different
districts the painting varies. For instance, in Owari, the greater part
of the ware is painted a cobalt blue--the cobalt ore being found in the
bluffs near the clay deposits, and is used for painting the cheaper
wares, and for this purpose German cobalt is also employed. The painting
with cobalt is generally done on the biscuit before glazing. In several
districts a very handsome ware is made, and painted on the glaze. For
this kind of painting the colors are mixed with a silicate of lead
and potash, and baked the third time in a small furnace at a low
temperature. The coloring oxides in use are those of copper, cobalt,
iron, antimony, manganese, and gold. Japanese porcelain painting may be
divided into two categories, decorative and graphic; the first is used
to improve the vessel upon which it is placed, and this class includes
all the ware except that of the province of Kaga, which would come under
the head of graphic, as it delineates all the trades, occupations,
sports, customs, and costumes of the people, as well as the scenery,
flora, and fauna of the country. "Owari ware" is made in the province
of that name; it is not as translucent, but stronger and more tenacious
than some of the Hizen manufacture.
The principal potteries are at a village called Sèto, twelve miles from
the sea; in this village there are more than 200 kilns. The ware is
mostly painted a cobalt blue, and is merely of a decorative kind,
consisting of branches of trees, grass, flowers, birds, and insects, all
these being copied by the artist from nature. All the Owari ware is true
hard porcelain, and is strong and durable. In Hizen, a number of wares
are manufactured, the best known kind being the "Eurari," which is made
at Arita, but painted at Eurari. The colors in use are red, blue, green,
and gold; these are combined in various proportions, but, as a rule, the
red predominates. Generally the surface of the vessel is divided into
medallions of figures, which alternately have red, blue, or white
back-ground, with figures in green or blue and gold.
The egg-shell porcelain sold at Nagasaki is made in this province from
Arita clay, and this is made from clay with no admixture of fusible
matter except that contained by the clay naturally. The province of
Satsuma is noted for crackled ware. It is only within a very few years
that large vases have been manufactured, and in earlier days the old
ware was confined to small vessels. The glaze is a silicate of alumina
and potash, and the best ware has a complete network of the finest
crackles; the painting is of birds and flowers, and noted for its
delicate lines of green, red, and gold.
In Kioto, the ware manufactured is very similar to that produced in
Satsuma, but it is lighter and more porous; the decorations are also
nearly the same, being of birds and flowers. There is a description of
ware made in Kioto, called "Eraku," the whole body of which is covered
with a red oxide of iron, and over this mythical figures of gold are
traced. That produced in Kagja is _faïence_, and in the style of
painting is unlike any other in Japan, the predominating color being
a light red, used with green and gold. The designs with which it is
profusely decorated are trees, grasses, flowers, birds, and figures of
all classes of people, with their costumes, occupations, and pastimes.
The "Banko" ware is made at the head of the Owari Bay; it is an unglazed
stone-ware, very light and durable, made on moulds in irregular shapes,
and decorated with figures in relief. On the island of Awadji, a
delicate, creamy, crackled, soft paste porcelain is made. The figures
used in decoration are birds and flowers, but outlined by heavy, dark
lines.
Consul Van Buren is of opinion that, at no distant day, Japan will be
one of the foremost competitors in the pottery markets of the world,
on account of the great variety and excellence of the clays, their
proximity to the sea, the cheapness of labor, and the beauty and
originality of the decorations. Already this important industry has been
greatly stimulated by the foreign demand, and by the success of
Japanese exhibitors at the Exhibitions of Vienna, Philadelphia, and
Paris.--_Journal of the Society of Arts_.
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Professor Julius E. Hilgard, for twenty years assistant in charge of the
office, has been placed in temporary charge of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey. It is understood that he will be appointed superintendent to
succeed the late Captain Carlile P. Patterson.
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