Japan: Its History, Arts, and Literature/Volume 8/Chapter 4
Chapter IV
WARES OF KYŌTŌ
Kaempfer, writing of Kyōtō—or Miako (capital), as he calls it—in 1690, says: "Miako is the great magazine of all Japanese manufactures and commodities, and the chief mercantile town in the Empire. There is scarce a house in this large capital where there is not something made or sold. Here they refine copper, coin money, print books, weave the richest stuffs with gold and silver flowers. The best and scarcest dyes, the most artful carvings, all sorts of musical instruments, pictures, japanned cabinets, all sorts of things wrought in gold and other metals, particularly in steel, as the best tempered blades and other arms, are made here in the utmost perfection, as are also the richest dresses and after the best fashion, all sorts of toys, puppets moving their heads of themselves, and numberless other things too many to be here mentioned. In short, there is nothing can be thought of but what may be found at Miako, and nothing, though never so neatly wrought, can be imported from abroad but what some artist or other in this capital will undertake to imitate it. Considering this, it is no wonder that the manufactures of Miako are become so famous throughout the Empire as to be easily preferred to all others, though perhaps inferior in some particulars, only because they have the name of being made there. There are but few houses in all the chief streets where there is not something to be sold, and for my part I could not help wondering whence they can have customers enough for such an immense quantity of goods. 'T is true, indeed, there is scarce anybody passes through Miako but what buys something or other of the manufactures of this city, either for his own use, or for presents to be made to his friends and relatives."
During the first seven centuries of its existence Kyōtō was scarcely ever in a condition adapted to the development of art industry. In 794, when the Emperor Kwammu moved the Imperial residence thither, the place was little more than an insignificant village. At first its growth was rapid, for, as is shown by the relics preserved at Nara, the previous seat of Government, even in those early days Japanese Court life was highly refined. But on the whole the habits of the nation were simple. Class distinctions did not yet exist. Every man capable of bearing arms was a soldier. When his services were required, he took the field, and when peace was restored, he returned to the bread-earning occupation which he had before pursued. The gradual advent of a social state in which one section of the people ministered to the luxurious proclivities of the other, was accompanied by the rise of three great families, the Minamoto, the Taira, and the Fujiwara, whose feuds devastated the country for five centuries. Students of Japanese history are familiar with the terrible succession of civil wars of that era, the effects of which culminated in the middle of the sixteenth century when Kyōtō was practically a mass of ruins, and the court nobility were compelled to seek shelter and sustenance in the castles of the feudal lords throughout the provinces. The Emperors were for the most part poor even to embarrassment,—so poor that on the death of one of them (1500) the corpse remained without burial for forty days because means were wanting to perform the funeral rites prescribed by etiquette. Under such circumstances the keramic art, in Japan always more or less dependent on patronage, was not likely to flourish in Kyōtō. Passing, however, to the times of Yoshimasa (1480) and the Taikō (1580), it may be supposed that the potter's trade would have grown and prospered under the protection of these munificent art patrons. Some impetus it certainly did receive, but nothing that could have presaged its ultimate fame. The Taikō ordered experts to be brought from Korea, and the reader knows already how large a debt Japanese keramics owed to this step. But the great general and statesman died before he could direct the employment of these potters. Had he lived a few years longer, there can be no doubt that he would have established several of the Koreans in Kyōtō, and that the story of the Imperial city's industry would now have to be told differently. On his decease things were ordered in a fashion at variance with his original purpose. The Koreans were distributed throughout the provincial factories, and there was not found in Kyōtō any nobleman disposed or competent to pursue the art programme traced by the Taikō. The city, it should be observed, was chiefly the residence of the Kugé, or Court Nobles,—men who, though superior to the provincial magnates in rank, were far inferior in wealth and authority. After the Taikō's death, too, there occurred between his son Hideyori and the renowned Iyeyasu, founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of Regents, a feud which ended in the partial destruction of the splendid castle at Ōsaka, and temporarily checked the prosperity which had begun to smile upon Kyōtō after such a long interval of suffering and disturbance. It may be said that the condition of keramics in this city first began to deserve attention in the early part of the seventeenth century. Previous to that time the potter's art had been regarded as a species of genteel pastime, and had been practised by dilettanti who proposed to themselves no very high ideal and were good-naturedly appreciative of one another's achievements.
The first Kyōtō potter of whom there is any record was a scion of the Imperial family. This was Prince Unrin-in Yasuhito, seventh son of the Emperor Nimmyō. In the year 851 he is said to have settled at Kami-yama, in the Shigaraki district of the province of Omi, and there to have commenced the manufacture of pottery. His instructor in the art was Imbe Kyonushi, by some called the father of Japanese keramists. It is recorded that in the year 888, on the occasion of a festival, Yasuhito manufactured a vase with Kami-yama clay, and presented it to the Emperor Uda, who as a reward raised him to the fifth official rank and authorised him to take the family name of Genji. Yasuhito was thenceforth known as Minamoto no Yasuchika (Gen is an alternative pronunciation of Minamoto). As to the nature of his productions tradition is silent, but there can be no doubt that they were unglazed pottery. Some antiquarians have been disposed to believe that the art of glazing pottery was known to the experts of the Imperial city at the time when Yasuchika flourished. They found this idea on the fact that the tiles used for the Palace of Peace (Heianjo), built by the Emperor at Kyōtō in 794, were covered with dark green glaze. It is, however, almost beyond question that these tiles were imported from China,—the great majority of evidence says from Cochin China. If it be admitted that such manufactures were possible to the Japanese of the eighth century, then there will be no reason to deny that the "pure vessels" (Seiki) potted at Fushimi (about five miles from Kyōtō) during the reign of the Emperor Yuriaku (457–479), were also glazed. No such theory will bear scrutiny. Both the Seiki of Yuriaku's time and the pieces manufactured by Minamoto no Yasuchika were undoubtedly a species of fine red unglazed pottery, such as is used to this day in ceremonial utensils. When the Taikō received the Korean ambassadors in audience at Kyōtō, wine was handed round in earthenware cups, as it would still be on a similar occasion were Japanese usages observed. At the close of the fifteenth century Prince Yoshimasa's enthusiasm for the Cha-no-Yu ought to have given a marked impulse to the keramic art. Such was not the case, however. It is true that Yoshimasa caused a small kiln to be erected at his palace of Higashi-yama, and that his example was followed by many private persons. But the results of these amateur efforts are described by Japanese writers as soft, imperfectly fired, and generally defective faience. In fact, the nature of this early Kyōtō ware depended entirely on the accidental skill of people who practised the art as much for amusement as for profit.
After Yoshimasa's decease the most renowned patron of the Cha-no-Yu was Takeda Shinshiro, feudal chief of Inaba (born 1505, died 1558), whose artistname was Jō-o. Among his associates and immediate successors were three men, Sōhku, Shōi, and Kōhei, whose reputation as potters is still preserved by devotees of the Tea Ceremonials. Like all the Kyōtō keramists of those days, they made the manufacture of tea utensils not a profession but a pastime, and, from the specimens of their work now extant, they may be said to have followed the methods of the Seto potters at a considerable distance. The pâte of the tiny pieces ascribed to them is light brown, verging upon buff, fine and tolerably hard. The glaze is opaque and of a dark mahogany colour. It has little lustre, and its method of application argues but scanty skill. In the same century and the beginning of the next, seven names are recorded: Genjûro, Shimbei, Kōsan, Moemon, Kichibei, Dōmi, and Manemon. These amateurs were contemporaries and successors of Sen no Rikiu; they probably flourished between 1560 and 1630. In this book, Kanko Zusetsu, Mr. Ninagawa Noritane discusses at some length the probable professions of the six, and, for the purpose of comparing their merits, quotes passages from unfamiliar annals. It would be fruitless to follow the learned antiquarian into such dissertations. What has been said above of Sōhaku and his contemporaries applies equally to Genjûro, Manemon, and the rest. They are interesting for the sake of the time in which they lived, not at all for any addition they made to its keramic resources. A tea-jar manufactured by Moemon and depicted in the Kanko Zusetsu shows that he, at least, studied ruggedness and rusticity rather than beauty or technical excellence.
The reader will remember that during the second half of the sixteenth century the Raku faience, inaugurated by the Korean Ameya, had become a favourite ware with the Kyōtō tea-clubs. The history of this Raku-yaki has already been given. It is referred to here only for the sake of summarising the keramic productions of Kyōtō at the beginning of the seventeenth century. They were: (i) red, unglazed pottery manufactured by Yasuchika and others; (2) the Raku-yaki, a coarse faience covered with black, yellow, white, or salmon-coloured glaze; (3) faience with fine pâte and glaze of dark chestnut colour or yellowish brown; (4) unglazed pottery having buff-coloured pâte of great fineness, and decorated with black and gold lacquer (manufactured at Fushimi and already described as Soshiro-yaki); and (5) faience having greyish pâte, a craquelé glaze, showing a slightly yellowish tinge, and decoration of sketchy character in blue or brown sous couverte. This last variety marks the transition from the comparatively rude to the refined and artistic stage of Kyōtō keramics. The blue decoration was called ai-e (ai signifies blue; e, a picture), and the brown was known as shiku-e (from shiku, the juice of the Diospyros kaki). As to the artists by whom the process of decorating faience with colours under the glaze was inaugurated in Kyōtō, tradition says little. It is tolerably well established that as early as the year 1510, factories existed at places called Shiru-dani and Komatsu-dani, near the temple Seikan-ji. The names of three potters, Otoroku, Otowaya, and Kiushichi, are associated with the faience produced there during the sixteenth century. Their pieces are described as possessing close pâte and tolerably fine crackle; and it is recorded that towards the close of the century designs in dark, impure blue, in black, and in brown began to be employed for decorative purposes. To such wares the terms Seikan-ji-yaki, Otowa-yaki, or, more generally, Ko-kyōmizu-yaki (old Kyōmizu ware) are indifferently applied. But it must be confessed that this part of the subject is wrapped in considerable obscurity. Nor can the student wonder that it should be so, having regard to the trifling success achieved by the manufacture of such wares. The decorative designs, though slight and insignificant, were not without artistic merit, but the colours and the technique generally were of an inferior order.
It is with Nomura Seisuke (called also Seiyemon and Seibei) that the history of Kyōtō art-faience really commences. There is no name more renowned in the catalogue of Japanese keramists. He was a scion of the noble house of Fujiwara, and in his early youth, a pupil of Sōhaku, a master of Tea Ceremonials, from whom he acquired the keramic proclivities destined to be afterwards so largely developed. Some doubt exists as to the date of his birth, but this is a matter of small moment, since collateral events determine with sufficient precision the period when his career became really interesting. His native place was a village near the temple of Ninwaji (pronounced Ninnaji) in the environs of Kyōtō, and by combining the initial syllable of this word with that of his name (Seisuke) there was obtained the term "Ninsei," by which the man and his works alike are known to posterity.
Ninsei's first productions were simple pieces with shiku-e decoration. By-and-by, however, he made an important addition to his methods. The reader will remember that decoration with vitrifiable enamels was practised at the Hyakken factory in Hizen as early as 1620, and that it was carried to great perfection by the first Kakiemon and his contemporaries about thirty years later. Naturally, a considerable quantity of the new ware found its way to the capital, where it excited at once the admiration and the envy of the leading keramists. But for a time the possibility of imitating it does not seem to have been conceived, since the secret was guarded at the Hizen factories by a series of the most rigorous enactments. It happened, however, that between the years 1650 and 1655 a certain Aoyama Koemon, acting as agent for the sale of the new porcelain, associated himself with one Kurobei, a faience vendor of Kyōtō, and was persuaded by the latter to disclose the methods which had won for Arita so valuable a monopoly. The unfortunate Koemon's indiscretion is said to have cost him his life, but the precious recipe remained in Kurobei's possession, and subsequently passed into the hands of Nomura Ninsei. There is, therefore, very little risk of inaccuracy in ascribing the first manufacture of enamelled faience in Japan to the year 1655.
These facts, elicited by independent research, recently received remarkable confirmation from a scroll written and signed by a Kyōtō potter, Tsuboya Rokubei, in the year 1759. The scroll reads as follows:
"During the Meirei era (1655–1657), there came from Saruyama in the province of Hizen a man named Aoyama Koemon. From him our ancestor, Kurobei, learned the secret mode of manufacturing vitrifiable enamels, having bound himself by a solemn oath not to reveal it. The circumstance is one to be treasured in the memories of keramic decorators."
Not having made keramics his profession, Ninsei had no fixed workshop. His first productions were potted in the neighbourhood of the temple of Seikan, and at the kiln called Otowa, both of which are in the district of Omuro. Hence the origin of the term Omuro-yaki, by which these pieces are generally known. Subsequently he worked at factories called Awata, Iwakura, and Mizoro, not only practising but imparting the secrets he had acquired. All these places are in or near Kyōtō. Otowa-yama is the name of a hill which lies within three-quarters of a mile from the Imperial Palace, to the east. On a slope of this hill is the celebrated Kyomizu-zaka, a street which, shortly after Ninsei's time, became, and has ever since remained, the centre of the keramic industry of Kyōtō. Awata is about a thousand yards due north of Kyōmizu-zaka. Mizoro lies four miles to the northwest of Awata. The temple of Ninwaji is a mile and a quarter to the west of the Palace, and Iwakura is two and a half miles to the north of Mizoro, being thus more than five miles from Kyōtō. Nomura Ninsei made no attempt to hide the secret of his processes, but, a true lover of his art, delighted to visit the workshops of his confrères, and to impart to them the results of his own experience or receive those of theirs. No doubt the remarkably rapid development of the Kyōtō faience during the latter half of the seventeenth century is due in no small degree to this liberality.
If Ninsei's title to fame rested solely upon the fact that he was the originator of enamelled faience, he would deserve to be remembered. For, though he did not invent this process, his manner of employing it marked an epoch in the history of his country's keramics. Under his inspiration the wares of Kyōtō assumed a new character. He was the first to shake himself entirely free from alien influences, whether Chinese or Korean, and to adopt the "natural style" now universally regarded as representative of Japan. To whatever factory the student turns, some traces of the inspiration of Ninsei's genius are discernible, and it is scarcely too much to assert that almost every decorative fashion which by its grace and artistic fidelity has excited the admiration of Western critics, owes a large debt to Nomura Ninsei and those whom he educated. Nor is this all that can be said of him. In the eyes of his own countrymen he distinguished himself by the improved technical processes he introduced much more than by his use of vitrifiable enamels. Up to his time the only respectable pieces of Kyōtō faience were virtually accidental productions. Genjiro, Sōhaku, Shimbei, and their peers never mastered the details of manipulation and stoving so thoroughly as to have any confidence in their work or to establish any claim to be called experts. They appear to have formed little conception of the capabilities of crackle, content if only they produced pâte and glaze which might bear comparison with their Seto models. But in Ninsei's hands the faience of Kyōtō became an object of rare beauty. Not only was the pâte of his pieces close and hard, but the crackle of the grey or cream-coloured glaze was almost as regular as the meshes of a spider's web. Only the most painstaking manipulation of materials and management of temperature in stoving could have accomplished such results. In later and less conscientious times, the nature of the crackle changed so perceptibly that this one point affords a trustworthy criterion of old and fine ware. Ninsei's crackle was nearly circular. The surface of choice specimens of his handiwork conveys the impression of being covered with very fine netting, rather than with a tracery of intersecting lines. Its appearance is aptly described by the Chinese term "fish-roe crackle." Working, as he did, at different places, varieties are found in the pâte of his pieces. The most common is hard, close-grained clay, verging upon brick-red in colour, and perfectly free from foreign particles. Sometimes the colour changes to yellowish grey, and the texture becomes nearly as fine as that of pipe-clay. His monochrome glazes are scarcely less remarkable than his crackle. First among them must be placed metallic black, run over grass-green in such a way that the latter shows just sufficiently to correct any sombreness of effect. On the surface of this glaze, or else in reserved medallions of cream-like crackle, are painted diapers, and chaste floral designs in gold, silver, red, and coloured enamels. Another glaze invented by him, and imitated successfully by the chief experts among his successors, is pearl-white, through which a pink blush seems to spread. In golden brown, chocolate, and buff he also produced charming tints, and his skill as a modeller was scarcely less than his mastery of mechanical details. As a rule he marked his pieces with the two ideographs Nin-sei (vide Marks and Seals). Japanese connoisseurs profess ability to distinguish the true from the false by this cachet alone. But although Ninsei seems to have habitually subjected his graving-tool to greater pressure when commencing than when finishing a stroke, thus offering a slight guide to the identification of his mark, this subtle distinction is scarcely appreciable to foreign eyes. The amateur's wisest plan is to place no reliance on the mark Nin-sei, for it has been more extensively counterfeited than the cachet of any other Japanese artist. Hundreds, nay, thousands, of comparatively modern specimens of Kyōtō ware thus marked are offered by curio-dealers to inexperienced strangers as genuine specimens of Ninsei-yaki. Perhaps it need scarcely be said that genuine specimens are very scarce. They do exist, and find their way into the market from time to time, but their high value in Japan—as much as two or three hundred dollars is readily paid for a small bowl of the best description—keeps them out of Western collections. If it be required to indicate tests of easy application for determining the claims of a piece attributed to Ninsei, they are, first, the pâte, which ought to be very hard and of brick-red or yellowish grey colour; secondly, the crackle, which should be uniform and of circular shape; and thirdly, the enamels, which in pieces by Ninsei and his contemporaries or immediate successors are remarkable for combined richness and softness. The second of these characteristics, if present in a marked degree, will generally justify the amateur in assigning a specimen of Kyōtō faience, if not to Ninsei, at any rate to the century in which Ninsei lived.
The most renowned pictorial artist of Ninsei's era was Tanyū. This painter and the great keramist appear to have been fast friends. It is related that they took an equal interest in each other's art, and that many of the pieces manufactured by Ninsei bore designs from the brush of Tanyū or his pupil Eishin. These designs were largely imitated at the Kyōtō factories, and the popularity of pieces thus decorated was shared by specimens copied from Chinese ware ornamented with fishes from the brush of a Chinese artist, Bokkei, and hence called Bokkei-hachi. In fact, public taste turned completely from the sober and severe style of the Seto potters. Decorated faience became the rage, and in some quarters of Kyōtō every second house had its little workshop and kiln.
The methods of decoration practised by Ninsei were three. They are known among Japanese connoisseurs as shibu-ye, ai-ye, and kin-ye, or pictures in black and brown, in blue, and in enamels and gold. The shibu-ye and ai-ye are found upon pieces manufactured by Ninsei years before he began to employ enamels. It is certain that when Aoyama Koemon's recipes became known in Kyōtō, Ninsei was already renowned for his skill in the chaster fashions, which the best keramists of Kyōtō copied in later times. His pictorial designs were always remarkably bold and simple, but the shapes which he devised for incense-boxes show much variety; such things as battledores, helmets, official hats (yeboshi), bivalves, mythical animals, ducks, sparrows, cranes, and so forth, being copied with fidelity. Referring to the universality of his genius, it is generally said of him that the only things he could not make were céladon and porcelain. None of his descendants practised the potter's art. When Japanese speak, as they sometimes do, of "the second Ninsei" or "the third Ninsei," they are in error. There was but one Ninsei. Another misconception is to suppose that a contemporary potter, by name Wanjin, of Korean descent, anticipated Ninsei in the use of vitrifiable enamels. Wanjin only trod in Ninsei's footsteps, having himself no title to be mentioned in the same breath with the great amateur.
Near Seikanji, where Ninsei manufactured his first pieces, there exist the ruins of a factory where Gyogi Bosatsu is said to have worked. In the same locality, before Ninsei's era, two factories had already been opened at Shiru-dani and Komatsu-dani, as mentioned above. The reader knows that the names of three potters, Otoroku, Otowaya, and Kiushichi, who worked at the close of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century, were associated with these factories. Their pieces are the original faience of Kyōtō; that is to say, ware having close pâte, tolerably regular crackle, and greyish or yellowish glaze. They also employed ai-e and shibu-e for decorative purposes. Doubtless because these early Seikanji productions are the prototypes of the true Kyōtō faience, they are sometimes called ko-Kyōmizu-yaki, or old ware of Kyōmizu. The term is not strictly correct, inasmuch as the Kyōmizu district had not yet become the keramic centre of Kyōtō. It attained that distinction subsequently. The names Seikanji-yaki and Otowa-yaki are more properly applied to this old faience of the Seikanji locality.
Ninsei worked chiefly at the factories of Mizoro, Awata, and Iwakura. These places, being of great importance in respect of Kyōtō wares, merit detailed notice. The Mizoro and Awata factories were both founded by descendants of the first Kyōtō potter, Minamoto no Yasuchika, who has been already mentioned. From the ninth century until the sixteenth there is no record of the history of his family. Descendants of Minamoto no Yasuchika (who lived during the second half of the ninth century) were:—
- 1. Unren-in Yasunari; lived at Kamo, in the northern port of Kyōtō, and subsequently established a kiln at Mizoro, or Gobosatsu, where he manufactured on-miki-dokuri, or wine-bottles for religious rites. Died 1530.
- 2. Yasubei; worked at Gobosatsu (Mizoro). Died 1568.
- 3. Kumanosuke, also called Tōsen-koji; worked at Gobosatsu. Died 1585.
- 4. Yasubei; retired early from business and settled in the Kyōmizu district, where he manufactured tea-cups for religious rites. The date of his death is uncertain.
- 5. Yasubei; worked at Gobosatsu. Died 1608.
- 6. Kumanosuke; worked at Gobosatsu. Died 1635.
- 7. Bunzo; was working at Gobosatsu in the time of Nomura Ninsei. In 1645 he moved to Awata-guchi, and there took part in the manufacture of the faience which, after the improvements introduced by Ninsei, ultimately became so famous. Died 1660.
- 8. Kuzaemon; worked at Awata. Died 1683.
- 9. Yasubei; worked at Awata; received the art name of Hōzan from Tankai Hōzan Risshi, guardian of Hachidai Tennosha on Awata-yama. He subsequently stamped this name on his best pieces. Died (about) 1720.
- 10. Yasubei; worked at Awata and was chiefly known in connection with his pupil Kihyō, called also Kagiya, who was specially appointed to manufacture teacups for the Tokugawa Shōguns. Yasubei died 1752.
- 11. Bunzo; worked at Awata and assisted Kagiya Shintaro (son of the first Kagiya) to manufacture faience for the Court in Yedo. Died 1807.
- 12. Kumanosuke; worked at Awata and assisted Kagiya Kichibei to manufacture faience for the Court in Yedo. Died 1812.
- 13. Yasuemon; worked at Awata. Died 1817.
- 14. Kumanosuke; worked at Awata. Died 1819.
- 15. Heibei; worked at Awata. Died 1824.
- 16. Kumanosuke; worked at Awata, and manufactured porcelain in concert with Diraku Zengoro. Among his pupils was Kihei, afterwards called Sōbei, who manufactured ware for the Court in Yedo. Died 1841.
- 17. Bunzo; now works at Awata.
After Ninsei the greatest name connected with the Awata factory is that of Ogata Sansei, whose artist name was Kenzan. Ogata was born at Narutaki-mura, in the suburbs of Kyōtō, in the year 1660; that is to say, just at the time when the methods introduced by Ninsei had fairly won their way to public favour. He was the second son of Ogata Sōken, and his younger brother was the celebrated painter Kōrin. Sansei, who appears to have been called also Shinsei and Shinsaburo, was himself a painter of considerable promise, but his proclivities fortunately lay in the direction of keramics. After he had studied literature and poesy under the well-remembered Hirosawa Nagayoshi, and the mysteries of the Cha-no-Yu under Zuiru Sōsa,—whom the men of the next generation elevated into a semi-divinity under the title of Nichiren Sōsa,—he spent a short time in the practice of his father's favourite art, and his pictures are said to have given earnest of great talent. That he preferred to devote his brush to the ornamentation of faience was partly, perhaps, because the designs furnished for that purpose by Tanyū and Eishin had attracted so much attention, and partly because his brother Kōrin, in whom he must have recognised a greater artist than himself, had already a taste for lacquer decoration. At first he appears to have applied himself diligently to the study of technical processes, taking for his instructors the potters of Raku, Seto, and Zeze. Very soon, however, he developed an original style, of which the chief characteristics are great boldness, combined with a very skilful disposition of tints both in the execution of designs and in surface decoration. Kenzan is, in fact, a perfect representative of the genuine Japanese school, which requires that results, however elaborate, shall convey no idea of detailed effort, and enforces strict obedience to the natural principle of limited impressions. A branch of plum blossoms, a tuft of feathery reeds and bending grasses, a family of sparrows clustering amid the foliage of a bamboo, or the blue crest of a mountain peeping through a haze of golden clouds,—such things as these can be comprehended at a single glance, and are therefore legitimate subjects for representation in the circumscribed field which the artist has at his disposal. Kenzan thoroughly understood this. His designs are often exceedingly artistic for all their simplicity, and the landscapes depicted on some of his smaller pieces embody most graceful conceptions. He preferred shibu-ye and ai-ye—designs in black, russet-brown, and blue—to kin-ye—designs in coloured enamels and gold. But in all three varieties of decoration he showed himself equally a master. His best pieces were potted at Awata, and neither their pâte nor their glaze is distinguishable from that of the ordinary Awata-yaki. The style, however, cannot possibly be mistaken. It is bold almost to roughness. Even when little landscapes are depicted—a rare subject with Kenzan—there is no attempt at delicacy or fineness: a vigorous sketch entirely satisfies the artist. His most frequent method was to dash in a floral scroll, a flight of geese or herons in outline, or a suggestion of flowers and trees. The colour used in these more archaic specimens was usually the dark brown obtained from shibu. The clay was that of Shigaraki, which gave coarse, gritty pâte, inferior as a potter's material, but well adapted to rough outline sketches such as those that Kenzan applied to these wares. He marked his pieces with his name, "Kenzan." Even in his manner of making the mark he was true to his style, using no stamp, but scrawling the ideographs Ken-zan in a large, bold hand. At a late period of his career he worked at Iriya, in Yedo (now Tōkyō), but the materials procurable in the neighbourhood of the eastern capital were of such inferior quality that even Kenzan could produce nothing satisfactory with them. Urged rather by love for his craft than desire of gain, he never attempted to manufacture large quantities of faience, so that genuine specimens of his work are exceedingly rare and proportionately valued. His example did not affect the decorative methods of Awata, his style being too essentially individual to be imitated. His son and grandson, however, continued to manufacture pieces of the same character, though inferior in verve and originality. Kenzan died in 1743; his son, Kenzan the second (ni-dai-me Kenzan) about 1775, and his grandson, Kenzan the third (san-dai-me Kenzan) about 1820. The cachet was used by all three, and it is often difficult to distinguish their pieces.
A predecessor, and for a short time contemporary, of Kenzan (Ogata Sansei) was Seibei, whose artist name was Ebisei. This potter did not work at Awata. He belongs to the Kyō-mizu section, where he will be further noticed. He is mentioned here because his principal pupil, Eisen, was the instructor of two men, Mokubei and Dōhachi, whose names stand high in the Awata annals.
Takaton Ware.
Eighteenth century. (See page 315.)
Water Vessel.
By Nomura-Ninsei. Pearl white glaze. (See page 184.)
Tea Jar.
By Nomura-Ninsel. Baron Iwasaki collection. (See page 184.)
The decorative style introduced by the first Dōhachi and carried to perfection by his son was faithful to the canons of his time. At the close of the eighteenth century Maruyama Okyō, one of the greatest painters of Japan, had broken the fetters of old-fashioned conventionalism and by his unaided genius accomplished a revolution in the laws of painting in Kyōtō. Of the Shijo school, founded by him, the chief characteristics, as enumerated by the late Dr. W. Anderson in "Japanese Pictorial Art," are "an easy but graceful outline, free from the arbitrary mannerisms and unmeaning elegance of some of the works of the older schools; comparative truth of interpretation of form, especially in the delineation of birds, associated with an extraordinary rendering of vitality and action; and, lastly, a light harmonious colouring, suggestive of the prevalent tones of the objects depicted, and avoiding the purely decorative use of gold and pigment. The motives," Dr. Anderson goes on to say, "most in favour with the classical academics were necessarily excluded by the principle of the Shijo school; but Chinese landscapes, Chinese sages, and animals which the painter never saw in life, were profitably replaced by transcripts of the scenery and natural history of Japan. The subjects peculiar to the Popular school, the life of the streets and theatres, were, however, as carefully avoided by the naturalist as by the classical artist; but where the two schools chanced to coincide in motive, as in the drawing of Japanese heroes, the advantage of refinement always lay on the side of the pupils of Okyō." All this applies accurately to the methods of the Dōhachi family. They chose their decorative motives from nature, and applied them with great refinement and delicacy. Their command of technical processes was thorough, yet they never allowed themselves to be betrayed into exuberance of ornament. Birds, landscapes, floral subjects, and other familiar objects were faithfully represented, excellent judgment being shown in adapting the motive to its purpose. Their pâte was always carefully manipulated; their glazes were lustrous and uniform. A characteristic and favourite glaze of the second Dōhachi was pearl white, tinged or clouded with pink. The idea of this glaze was derived from Korean faience, but the development it received in Dōhachi's hands amounted to a new departure.
Kiya Sahei, or Mokubei as he is called in art, was born in 1767, and received instruction from Eisen. But as he owes his reputation chiefly to his skill in manufacturing porcelain, it will be more convenient to speak of him when that part of the subject is considered.
In the account given above of the family of Yasuchika incidental mention is made of a potter called Kihyō, or Kagiya, who was especially appointed to manufacture utensils for the palace of the Shōgun in Yedo. The record of the Kagiya family commences with Kagiya Tokuemon, who began work at Awata in 1693. Both this man and his son are said to have been clever keramists, but as to the particular direction in which their skill lay the student is left to conjecture. It was not till the time of Kagiya Mohei, the third generation, that the family acquired a wide reputation. This artist succeeded to his father's business in the Enkyō era (1744–1747), and in 1756 he had so distinguished himself as to be appointed potter to the Tokugawa Court in Yedo. In connection with this honour he received the name of Kinkō-zan, which he thenceforth stamped upon his best pieces, and which was similarly used by his successors. The present representative of the family is Kagiya Sōbei. His manufactures have earned numerous medals and certificates at exhibitions at home and abroad. The Kagiya family carried the enamelled decoration of Kyōtō faience to its highest point of richness and brilliancy. Prior to their time the Awata glaze had been of a somewhat cold, hard character, but in their hands its colour changed from greyish white to light buff, and it assumed an aspect of great delicacy and softness. To this warm, creamy ground a wealth of gold, red, green, and blue enamels was applied, generally in the form of floral scrolls, the result being indescribably rich and mellow. The Kinkō-zan style is essentially decorative and conventional, as distinguished from the naturalistic school affected by the Dōhachi family, and indeed by the majority of noted Kyōtō artists. Flower-vases were more largely produced by Kagiya Mohei and his successors, than by other Kyōtō potters. In the rare examples of these now to be found the decorative effect is usually assisted by reticulation and by conceits of shape. As a general rule, however, the productions of the Awata potters took the form of cups, vegetable bowls (muko-zuke), censers, clove-boilers (chōji-buro), water-vessels (mizu-sashi), and figures. The great majority of the famous Kyōtō keramists were clever modellers. Their favourite motives were the Seven Gods of Good Fortune (Shichifukujin). In moulding these they often left the faces, hands, and feet unglazed, and exhausted all the resources of their decorative methods on the drapery. Here they evidently reflected the methods of the Popular school (Ukyo-e Riu), of painting, which, founded by the celebrated Iwasa Matahei just as the keramics of Kyōtō were receiving new inspiration from the genius of Nomura Ninsei, reached the zenith of its fame during the eighteenth century. The exquisite colouring and rich elaboration displayed by the Ukyo-e artists in depicting drapery could scarcely fail to influence the decorative motives of a contemporaneous school of keramists.
Scarcely less familiar than the Kinkōzan stamp in connection with Awata faience is the mark Hōzan. This, as has been noted in the genealogical table of the Minamoto no Yasuchika family, was an art name given to Yasubei by Tankai Hōzan Risshi, guardian of Hachidai Tennosha, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The specialty of this potter appears to have been the use of blue sous couverte in decorating faience; a method not much practised owing to the difficulty of obtaining the necessary degree of heat in stoving. Landscapes, boldly executed, and floral scrolls were the usual motives. The effect of blue thus employed under a glaze glossy as oil and softened by a network of minute crackle, is highly artistic. About this time imitations of Delft faience began to be manufactured at Awata in small quantities. They do not merit special notice until the time of Bunzo, grandson of Yasubei Hōzan, who flourished during the latter part of the eighteenth century. This artist was a master in the use of engobe. One of his favourite methods was to cover the surface of a piece with rich blue wax-like glaze, forming a ground for floral designs or scrolls in white, and in many cases relieved by medallions with designs in engobe, copied from the Dutch. He was also the originator of a very beautiful style of decoration, not previously employed, or, if employed, not noticed until his developments brought it into vogue. This, in its commonest form, was an arabesque of leaves and tendrils disposed, in high or low relief, about a central blossom. The flowers were white, and the enamel scroll was in blue or green engobe, with sometimes an admixture of yellow. The design of course varied, but the method was always the same,—pâte sur pâte,—the execution showing great technical ability. Attractive as this style of decoration was, it does not seem to have been admitted to a permanently high place by Japanese connoisseurs. It is generally confined to such utensils as flower-pots, wine-bottles, clove-boilers, and so forth, and is rarely found on flower-vases or censers. Perhaps for this reason, but more probably because its processes demanded exceptional care and skill, Bunzo's pâte sur pâte was not largely imitated by his successors. At present little attempt to reproduce it is made in Kyōtō. As a pâte-sur-pâte decorator, Tanzan (vide infra) is fully equal to any of his predecessors. He works, however, entirely in low relief. The high-relief Warabi-de (fern-scroll style), as the method of Bunzo was called, is now attempted by Taizan (vide infra) only, and, according to his statement, the difficulty of temperature is nearly insuperable, unless, indeed, a special kiln is constructed. The Warabi-de faience found much favour in Kyōtō during the years that immediately succeeded its invention. It was to some extent supplanted by the Tsui-shu-de, or carved red lacquer style. In this a design was traced on the faience in the usual manner, and the remainder of the surface was then covered with red lacquer, portions of which were incised in diapers. Sometimes the lacquer was partially used in tracing the design. This fashion was a violation of true art canons. It soon went out of vogue.
Another well-known cachet of Awata is Taizan. During the Empō era (1673–1680) Tōkurō, a retainer of the noble family of Sasaki, came from Omi to Kyōtō and began to manufacture pottery. He appears to have confined himself at first to producing Raku ware. In 1711 he obtained permission to establish a kiln at Awata, and there began to practise the decorative methods for which the place was famous. His son, Yōhei, succeeded to the industry in the Kyōho era (1716–1735), and assumed the business name of Obiya, thenceforth marking his pottery "Taizan" (Tai is another pronunciation of the ideograph obi). According to a tradition of Yōhei's descendants, he was particularly successful in his manner of using sulphate of iron to produce a rich red pigment. On the whole, however, it can only be said of the Taizan family that they carried the methods of the Awata factories to considerable excellence, and that they were remarkable for technical skill rather than for originative genius. The head of each succeeding generation was called Yōhei. The representatives of the third and fourth generations, who flourished during the second half of the eighteenth century, were eminently successful in producing rich Mazarine blue enamel which they sometimes used as body glaze, applying to it decorative designs in gold. The dates of the successive generations of the Taizan family, and some facts concerning them, are given in the following table:—
- 1. Tōkuro; began to manufacture Raku faience about 1675, and set up a kiln at Awata in 1711.
- 2. Taizan Yōhei; assumed the business name of "Obiya" and the mark "Taizan" in the era 1716–1735.
- 3. Taizan Yōhei; distinguished himself by his Mazarine blue enamel, circ. 1755.
- 4. Taizan Yōhei; manufactured tea and wine utensils; flourished down to 1800.
- 5. Taizan Yōhei; manufactured not only pottery but also porcelain—especially céladon—between 1801 and 1820—and was appointed potter to the Imperial court.
- 6. Taizan Yōhei; produced highly decorated articles of pottery and porcelain for Imperial use in the era 1830–1843.
- 7. Taizan Yōhei; flourished down to 1853.
- 8. Taizan Yōhei; flourished down to 1870, and exported considerable quantities of faience.
- 9. Taizan Yōhei; the present representative of the family; a potter of merit, who does not, however, preserve the canons of his art, but manufactures largely with a special view to foreign markets. Much of his faience has found its way to Europe and America, where it is highly appreciated. The pâte is excellently manipulated, the glaze soft and lustrous, the crackle fine, and the decoration, though it frequently errs on the side of gaudiness, is often redeemed by beauty of design and delicacy of execution. Taizan uses enamels on choice pieces only, preferring gold and pigments—especially red—which are more easily prepared and applied. He has revived the pâte-sur-pâte style (Warabi-de) generally attributed to Hōzen, but his success is not signal. The difficulty of temperature in the kiln appears to be nearly insuperable. It is necessary that faience thus decorated should be exposed to the direct action of the furnace, while at the same time the slightest excess of heat has the effect of causing the enamel to "boil," the result being that it emerges from the kiln honeycombed and lustreless.
An Awata potter who attained considerable reputation for his skill in delineating figure subjects was Hasegawa Kumenosuke, whose artist name was Gekka, or Bizan. He began life as a painter, having studied under Okamoto Toyohiko. In 1820 he joined Taizan Yōhei, the sixth representative of the Taizan family, and worked at Awata until his death in 1838. Few of his productions survive, and it may be said that his methods were popularised by his adopted son and successor, Yozaemon, known in art as the Second Bizan. This expert made a special study of official costumes and of the rich dresses worn by the nobles in the posture-plays called Nō. He decorated his wares with figures thus apparelled. In technical execution few potters of Awata excelled him. The pâte of his faience was fine and hard, the glaze remarkably lustrous, the crackle uniform, and the enamels used in the decoration were of the purest quality. His mastery of technical processes did not, however, betray him into any excesses: his pieces generally show sparse decoration. He died in 1862, and was succeeded by his son, the third Bizan, who extended the scope of the factory and manufactured chiefly for foreign markets. The family is now represented by Bizan of the fourth generation, who assumed the direction of the factory on his father's death in the spring of 1887.
Of other workers at Awata it will suffice to mention the names of Mimura Genjiro and Namura Kyujiro. The former is the son of Mimura Gembei, who was a pupil of Hōzan Bunzo about the year 1817. The latter's father, Mimura Umekichi, was also a pupil of Bunzo. Both are skilled potters, but their work presents no original features.
The following analysis of the clays used in the manufacture of Awata faience was made by Professor R. W. Atkinson, formerly of the Tōkyō University, and published in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan:—
| Kyōtō Clay |
Ōmi Clay No. 1 |
Ōmi Clay No. 2 |
Glazing Clay from Matsumoto | |||
|
1.58 | 4.13 | 9.18 | 10.28 | ||
|
5.02 | 7.55 | 9.18 | — | ||
|
71.40 | 52.13 | 56.03 | 50.54 | ||
|
19.42 | 27.98 | 30.82 | 15.14 | ||
|
.38 | 1.85 | .82 | .86 | ||
|
.38 | .90 | .84 | 10.18 | ||
|
.20 | .42 | .40 | .78 | ||
|
1.00 | — | .64 | — | ||
|
.91 | 3.09 | 1.55 | — | ||
|
— | — | — | 5.61 |
An analysis of Awata faience masses was subsequently made by M. Korschelt, with the following results:—
AWATA FAIENCE MASSES
| Silica. | Alumina. | Iron Oxide. |
Lime, Potash, etc. |
Water. | |||
|
61.89 | 30.36 | 0.22 | 5.27 | 1.51 | ||
|
61.23 | 29.37 | 1.30 | 4.68 | 3.05 |
It has been usual to distinguish between the productions of the Iwakura and the Awata factories, as though they invariably presented differences easily recognised. Such is not the case, however, for specimens of the one are sometimes absolutely indistinguishable from specimens of the other. Iwakura is a suburb of Kyōtō. Nothing is known of the pottery produced there prior to the time of Nomura Ninsei. His works first brought the place into notice. Specimens of faience said to have been manufactured by him at Iwakura are still preserved, and it is certain that from his time the Iwakura-yaki began to be one of the choicest wares of Kyōtō. In those early days it could be distinguished from its rival, the Awata-yaki, without much difficulty. The pâte of the former was finer in grain and lighter in colour than the pâte of the latter; the crackle was closer, and the body-colour mellower. These features became even more marked at a later period. Placing a specimen of Iwakura faience manufactured at the beginning of the seventeenth century side by side with a specimen of contemporaneous Awata ware, the glaze of the former would appear to be a light buff colour as compared with the greyish white of the latter; the crackle of the one would seem scarcely perceptible in comparison with the crackle of the other, and the decoration of the Iwakura ware would be found appreciably chaster and less brilliant than that of the Awata. But from about the middle of the same century the Awata potters changed their materials or modified their methods to such an extent that these differences ceased to be constant and became occasional. Many pieces bearing the cachet of Kinkōzan, and undoubtedly potted at Awata, present all the features usually regarded as characteristic of the Iwakura-yaki. At present the Awata potters seem to have entirely abandoned whatever technical methods were formerly peculiar to their factory, and to have adopted the Iwakura fashions with strict fidelity. The amateur will easily understand, therefore, that in the absence of marks it may often be unsafe, as in such cases it is always unnecessary, to insist upon either of the terms Awata-yaki or Iwakura-yaki.
There appears to be no hope of obtaining any accurate information with respect to the Iwakura factory. It owed its origin to the fact that several potters who had carried on their trade in a district of Kyōtō called Oshikoji, were induced to remove to a less populous region owing to the remonstrances of their fellow citizens. Pottery kilns had often been the cause of conflagrations in Japan, and it is easily conceivable that when the keramic art began to be largely pursued in Kyōtō, a feeling of insecurity was engendered among persons living in the vicinity of the factories. Of the names of the artisans who under these circumstances migrated to the Iwakura suburb, no record is preserved. It is known only that they chose the place because of the accessibility of Dainichi-yama, where earth of good quality was procurable. This event is referred approximately to the year 1660. Very soon afterwards the faience produced at the new factories became popular, and the cachet "Iwakura" (vide Marks and Seals) attained a considerable reputation. As for the ware, however, its only points of difference from the Awata-yaki were that the glaze was softer, more lustrous, and of warmer tone, the crackle finer, and the decoration generally chaster and less brilliant. At a later period—about 1760—a new source of confusion was created by the use of the Iwakura mark at Awata. This practice was commenced by Kichibei, son of a bric-à-brac dealer called Jōgi-ya. Having been sent by his father to study the potter's art at Awata, Kichibei desired to employ some cachet that would bring his productions into speedy note. He accordingly adopted the Iwakura mark, with the addition of the ideograph yama or san (mountain). Thus it is known that specimens marked "Iwakura-zan" were really produced at Awata, and that they cannot be older than 1760. Kichibei's descendants continued working at Awata and using the same cachet until 1882, when the family became extinct. As for the Iwakura factories, they had long been closed, and their owners had returned to the city, settling either at Kyō-mizu, at Awata, or at Gojō.
There are not wanting connoisseurs who with some show of reason place the faience of Iwakura and the finer specimens of the Awata-yaki in the same rank with the ware of Satsuma. But even while admitting that the technical character of the former is not inferior to that of the latter, the conviction is inevitable that the Kyōtō pottery, as a rule, lacks solidity. Its best representatives, for all their fine pâte, their extraordinary regular crackle, and the warm richness of their buff-coloured body, inevitably present, in greater or less degree, a comparatively fragile aspect. They vie with the Satsuma ware in delicacy of tone and richness of decoration, but stand to it, after all, in much the same relation as that in which faience stands to ivory.
Large quantities of Iwakura-yaki and Awata-yaki have been fraudulently placed upon Western markets as genuine Satsuma-yaki. A little experience should obviate any danger of confounding the two. The ware of Kyōtō, being much less dense than that of Satsuma, is appreciably lighter, and its glaze has a more marked tinge of yellow. Specimens of Satsuma faience which, from the yellowish colour of their glaze, might be mistaken for Kyōtō productions, will be found to possess the characteristics of stone-ware rather than of pottery. Yet in spite of these well-marked differences, it is probable that much of the so-called "Satsuma ware" of Western collections was in reality manufactured in Kyōtō.
Another factory that attained some prominence after Ninsei's time is that of Gobosatsu, or Mizoro. Consulting the record of the family of Minamoto no Yasuchika, given above, it will be seen that from the early part of the sixteenth century, that is to say, from a period antecedent to Ninsei's time by more than a hundred years, potteries existed at Mizoro. Their products, however, were limited to unglazed utensils such as wine-bottles, cups, plates, and bowls for use in religious rites. There was always a demand for unglazed pottery in Kyōtō. In the Imperial Palace vessels of this kind were used in great numbers, custom requiring that they should be broken or given away after having once served their purpose. So, too, in the mansions of noblemen or gentlemen it was the habit, on all occasions of ceremony, to drink wine out of cups of either lacquer or unglazed pottery. For the household worship of ancestors, again, and on occasions of a sacred character, vessels of a similar nature were needed. The Mizoro potters, therefore, were not without liberal patronage. The materials procurable near the site of their workshops were credited with excellent qualities, and Ninsei's recourse to the place shows that in his day it enjoyed a certain reputation. Nevertheless the Mizoro-yaki does not compare favourably with the wares of Awata and Iwakura. Its pâte is coarser, its crackle larger and less uniform, and the glaze not only is more uneven, but also in its thicker parts sometimes assumes a milky, viscous appearance which, though appreciated by many connoisseurs, suggests the idea of crude technique. The word "Mizoro" signifies "turbid lake," and the same name is said to have been applied to the ware because the materials for its manufacture were taken from the bed of the Mizoro pond. When, under Ninsei's direction, the faience assumed a decorative character, simple fashions were at first preferred. The designs, which generally consisted of miniature pines or tufts of broad-bladed grass, were executed in black, chocolate brown, or dark blue. Subsequently, however, pieces were ornamented in the reservé style, monochrome enamel (always grass-green) being applied to the whole surface with exception of the parts that carry the pictorial designs. Specimens also exist which cannot be distinguished from Awata-yaki except by their mark. Speaking generally, delicacy of execution does not appear to have been at any time a principal object with the Mizoro potters. They preferred bold, strong effects, and these were unquestionably better suited to the nature of the materials which they employed. There are no records to show what potters worked at Mizoro after Ninsei's time, and tradition is silent on the subject. All trace of the factories has disappeared, and the inhabitants of the locality retain no memory of the days when the keramic industry was practised there. Doubtless, as in the case of Iwakura, the artisans ultimately moved into Kyōtō, finding that the accessibility of a part of their materials did not compensate for the inaccessibility of their market. The Mizoro clay is not used at all now.
Wares of Kyōtō other than those produced at Awata, Iwakura, or Mizoro, are included in the general term Kyōmizu-yaki. They are manufactured in those districts of the Western capital known as Kyōmizu-zaka and Gojō-zaka. The history of this part of the subject is a record of individuals. In former times there was nothing that could properly be called a factory in the streets above mentioned. They were simply the sites of a number of potters' dwellings where domestic industries were conducted chiefly on a small scale.
The first recorded potter of Kyōmizu faience is Seibei Yahyō, who established himself at Gojō-zaka during the Genroku era (1688–1703). According to some authorities, this man was a grandson of Nomura Ninsei, but the evidence in support of such a theory cannot be accepted. Seibei certainly copied Ninsei's methods, but his connection with the great artist ends there. In the Temmei era (1781–1788) the factory was moved to the neighbouring district of Kyōmizu, where it still exists under the direction of Seibei's descendant, Nakamura Masagorō. When Seibei settled at Gojō-zaka, he called his factory "Ebiya," and by combining this with his own name there results "Ebisei," the appellation by which he is generally known. Ebisei was the first to manufacture utensils for the Cha-no-Yu at Gojō-zaka. He is also said to have carried to a point of considerable excellence a style of decoration inaugurated by Ninsei and subsequently employed at times by the Kyōmizu potters, namely, the application of vitrifiable enamels to the surface of unglazed pottery.
Among Ebisei's pupils were two potters of considerable renown, Eisen and Rokubei. Eisen was not a keramist by profession. He appears to have taken up the art as a pastime. He is especially remarkable as the first manufacturer of porcelain in Kyōtō. The circumstances under which this branch of keramics began to be pursued in the Imperial city are not recorded. Tradition says that Eisen's immediate purpose in travelling beyond the groove followed by his predecessors was the production of céladon, a ware which was yearly becoming more and more valuable in proportion as each fresh importation from the Middle Kingdom showed that the hands of the Chinese themselves had lost much of their old cunning. Eisen was not particularly successful in his céladons, but by degrees he developed great skill in producing enamelled porcelain after the style of the later Ming potters; that is to say, white heavy ware with somewhat rudely executed designs in green, red, and gold. Imitation was his forte. He evidently thought that the summit of success was to copy Chinese pieces with unerring fidelity; a not unnatural conception, seeing that Chinese porcelain was the highest keramic achievement in the eye of Japanese connoisseurs of Eisen's time. The exact date of Eisen's first porcelain manufacture cannot be fixed, but there can be little error in placing it about the year 1760. Eisen stamped his name on some of his pieces, and wrote it on others with red enamel. Ebisei used the Kyōmizu mark only.
Rokubei, another distinguished pupil of Ebisei, was the son of a farmer. Kotō Rokuzaemon, of the province of Setsu. He was called Kuritarō in his youth, and subsequently Gusai. In the Kan-en era (1748–1750) he became Ebisei's pupil, and in 1764 he began to manufacture in his own account at Gojō-zaka. He received his art name, "Rokubei," from Prince Myōhōin, who, having invited Gusai to his mansion and caused him to manufacture some cups of black Raku faience, conferred on him the stamp Rokumei-in. A priest, Keishū, of the celebrated monastery of Tenriu-ji, wrote for Rokubei the ideograph "Sei," within a hexagon, and this also he used as a seal (Sei is the alternative pronunciation of Kyo, and is thus an abbreviation of "Kyōmizu"). Rokubei further employed the full cachet "Kyōmizu," which he obtained from his teacher Ebisei. He died in 1799 at the age of sixty-two. His forte lay in the direction of finely decorated faience. He excelled not only in the preparation and application of vitrifiable enamels, but also and principally in the refined character of his designs. Maruyama Okyō, the greatest master of the Realistic school of pictorial art, was then (1778) at the zenith of his fame. All the young painters of Kyōtō flocked to his atelier at Shijo, and his pictures were a theme of every-day talk in art circles. Rokubei was among Okyō's friends and admirers. He was on equally good terms with the younger and scarcely less remarkable painter Gekkei (or Goshun), and he not only copied the motives of these masters, but sometimes persuaded them to decorate his faience with their own hands. It will be seen, therefore, that the artistic character of his ware brings him into the same class as his great successor of Awata, the second Dōhachi. Among the productions of both potters, especially Rokubei, there are occasionally found specimens of faience decorated with charmingly conceived and skilfully executed landscapes in blue sous couverte. These beautiful examples of keramic art, with their glossy, closely crackled glaze and highly artistic designs, may be ascribed to the influence of the Shijo school of painting.
Rokubei's son, Seisai, succeeded him, but being very young at the time of his father's death, he did not open a factory until the year 1811. Throughout the greater part of his life he pursued the methods of his father, confining himself to the manufacture of faience. From the first the potters of Gojō and Kyōmizu had devoted much attention to the preparation of coloured, semi-translucid glazes; as green, golden brown, black, purple, and iron red. These were sometimes used as monochromes to cover the whole surface of a piece; sometimes they enclosed medallions with floral designs, and sometimes they formed the ground for reserved designs in gold and other colours. In such fashions of decoration both Rokubei Gusai and Rokubei Seisai showed great proficiency. The latter, in his old age, turned his attention to the manufacture of blue-and-white porcelain, and produced many specimens of merit. It has to be noted, however, that makers of this class of ware in Kyōtō never showed originality consistent with their achievements in faience. Their designs were copied, for the most part, from Chinese models; their blue was of inferior quality, and they confined themselves chiefly to the production of insignificant pieces for domestic use. Rokubei of the second generation used the same stamp as his father, with the addition, however, of a second perimeter to the hexagon. He died in 1860, at the age of seventy-one, having retired from business in favour of his son, Shōun, twenty-two years previously (1838). Shōun, generally spoken of as Rokubei of the third generation, was a skilful potter. A well-known piece of his is a large pillar-lamp (tōro) of blue-and-white porcelain, which was placed in the grounds of the Imperial Palace in 1853, and stands there still. Lamps of this kind, but on a smaller scale, had often been made in Hizen. After Shōun's time several of them were produced in Kyōtō. Shōun used the same mark as his grandfather, Seisai, but generally substituted the cursive style of writing for the square. He died in 1883, and was succeeded by his son Shōrin, the present representative of the family, who manufactures both pottery and porcelain, decorating the latter with blue under the glaze as well as with vitrifiable enamels. Shōrin's marks are shown in the list of Marks and Seals. The ideographs of his stamp were written by the Abbot Aogusō, as were those of his father's by the Abbot Taigo, both of the monastery of Daitoku.
It has already been mentioned that Eisen was the first manufacturer of porcelain proper in Kyōtō, and that he began to pursue this branch of keramics about the year 1765. Among his pupils the most distinguished were Dōhachi and Mokubei, to both of whom allusion has been made in the section devoted to Awata pottery. The story of Mokubei is referred to here because of his important connection with the records of Kyōtō porcelain. His skill appears to have been early recognised. While he was still young, the people of Mita, in the province of Setsu, sent to Kyōtō delegates seeking the assistance of an expert to superintend the establishment of a factory. Mokubei desired to go, but Eisen refused to allow him, asserting that the assistance of such an artist would place the Mita ware above that of Kyōtō. Another of Eisen's pupils, by name Kamesuke, was therefore sent. Tradition says that Mokubei set himself originally to copy the ivory-white porcelain of China (Ming Chien-yao). In this line he was not successful. His fame was originally established by his imitations of an imported faience known as Kōchi-yaki, or ware of Cochin China. There had been tolerably intimate intercourse between Japan and Cochin China for several centuries. When the soldier of fortune, Yamada Nagamasa, made his way to Siam, two hundred years before Mokubei's era, he found so many of his countrymen already settled there that he was able to raise a Japanese corps which afterwards became a terror to Siam's enemies. In the exchange of productions that took place between Japan and these distant regions, a ware falsely attributed to the factories of Cochin China had come into the hands of the Japanese dilettanti, immediately attracting their admiration by its rarity and the beauty of its colours. It was hard faience, inferior in the preparation of its pâte to the pottery of Satsuma or Kyōtō, but covered with glazes, purple, yellow, green, and metallic bronze-red, of remarkable lustre and brilliancy. Small pieces only of this Kōchi-yaki (Kōchi is the Japanese name for Cochin China) were procurable. They were chiefly in the form of little quaintly-shaped boxes, and these had become the orthodox incense-holders of the Chajin. It was by his dexterous imitations of this much esteemed faience that Mokubei first attracted public attention. From his time it became possible to be perplexed in choosing between an original specimen of so-called Kōchi-yaki and a copy by some Kyōtō artist. He produced also excellent pieces of céladon, and in Japanese collections there are preserved a few specimens of his enamelled porcelain which show elaborate and minute processes. As an imitator he was no less successful. He could reproduce, with perfect fidelity, early specimens of Chinese enamelled and blue-and-white porcelains, copying every blemish and imperfection as accurately as each admirable feature. There is no doubt that had he depended more on his original genius and less on his technical skill, he would have left many remarkable examples of the Kyōtō keramic art. His imitative ability sufficed, however, to procure him among his own countrymen the title of the most expert potter of modern times. His name is also associated with the first employment of moulds in the manufacture of porcelain. The idea of this process was derived from a study of Chinese wares. The moulds were in two pieces. They were applied externally, and after the vase had received the desired form by pressure from within, its inner surface was finished off upon the wheel. Porcelain and pottery with designs in relief thenceforth occupied an important place among the productions of the Kyōtō workshops. At present specimens of this nature are often disfigured by evidences of the haste and negligence common to the modern school, but some well-executed examples may be found. Mokubei generally marked such of his pieces as were not intended to be exact imitations of foreign models. His cachet will be found in the Plates of Marks. Mokubei was born in 1767 and died in 1833. He did not leave any male progeny, but his daughter, Rai, attained considerable celebrity as a manufacturer of archaic pottery, at the beginning of the present century. It may be added that collectors are often imposed upon by elaborately decorated specimens—generally bowls—which curio-dealers confidently ascribe to Mokubei, but which are, in truth, clever examples of modern manufacture.
A celebrated potter of Gojō-zaka was Ogata Kichisaburo, whose artist name was Shūhei. He flourished during the latter part of the eighteenth century, and was therefore a contemporary of Mokubei. It has been asserted that to Shūhei belongs the credit of first applying to Kyōtō porcelain a species of decoration the origin of which is otherwise attributed to the Chinese potters of the Yung-lo era (1403–1424). There is no evidence of this except the fact that Shūhei affected this style of decoration more than any other. The outer surface of the piece was completely covered with red glaze, and to this, as a ground, designs in gold, or, more rarely, coloured enamels, were applied. Shūhei's red was of somewhat dark, impure character, not by any means comparable with the beautiful coral colour produced by his immediate successor, Eiraku Zengoro, who will be presently spoken of. But in the employment of coloured enamels he yields the palm to no keramist of Kyōtō. In this branch of the art he stands upon the highest plane of excellence. He was fond of figure subjects—the Shichi-fuku-jin, the Ju-go Dōji, the sixteen Arbats, the Rishis, the Karako (Chinese children at play), and so forth—and he executed his designs with the skill and precision of delicate miniatures. These are essentially the "jewelled" wares of Japan. Nothing more brilliant is to be found among the productions of the country. Shūhei's pieces are porcelain, for the most part, but he manufactured some fine specimens of faience also. He was succeeded by his son, of the same name, a good artist, but decidedly inferior to his father. There is no representative of the family at present living, but the mark "Shūhei" is sometimes used by a brother of Dōhachi, the well-known potter of Gojō-zaka.
There flourished contemporaneously with Shūhei an excellent keramist, Otowaya Sōzaemon, generally known as Kentei but sometimes called Tōsen. He lived at Gojō-zaka, near the bank of the river Otawa, and his name became known to the public in the Kansei era (1782–1809). Kentei did not manufacture porcelain. His specialty was unglazed pottery with cream-coloured or light grey pâte of very fine pipe-clay. To this were applied delicately traced pictorial designs—sometimes in gold alone, sometimes in coloured enamels—supplemented usually by stanzas of poetry or classical quotations. A peculiarity of this charming ware is the rapidity with which it changes colour; so much so that, after a few months of constant use, the white surface of a teapot becomes dark brown, or even black, and at the same time acquires glaze from manipulation. Kentei and Shūhei are regarded as most eminent masters in the manufacture of the little Japanese Kiusu (teapot). Innumerable conceits of shape and varieties of decoration are to be found in these tiny utensils, of which more than one large collection has been made by Western virtuosi. Kentei of the second generation is commonly called Sōtarō. He followed the methods of his father, but preferred floral designs to figure subjects, and was also a manufacturer of porcelain. He died in 1869 at the age of fifty-six. The family name has now been changed to Inui. The present representative is Katsu-no-suke, a keramist who has not yet shown any ability. A potter of the nineteenth century who rivalled Kentei in the production of unglazed ware with decoration in coloured enamels, was Kantei.
Mention may be made here of the Takayama and Irie families. The first representative of the former who adopted keramics as a profession was Takayama Aitaro, sometimes called Genjiro. He resided at Gojō, and became a well-known potter of cups, plates, bowls, and so forth during the Meiwa era (1764–1771). He was succeeded by his son Gembei, who did not depart from his father's methods. The representative of the third generation was Ai-no-suke. From his time (1854) the family manufactured porcelain, but ceased to produce art objects and confined itself to laboratory and hospital utensils. These are now made in considerable quantities by the fourth representative, Aitaro. The story of the Irie family is similar. Its first potter, Irie Kuhei, came to Kyōtō and opened a factory at Mi-ike in 1789, producing chiefly cups, bowls, etc., in decorated faience. In 1842 his son, of the same name, moved to Gojō, and showed so much skill that he was ordered to make fire-pots for use in the Imperial Palace at the Harvest Festival (1853). He then changed his name to Irie Sakon. His son, Dosen, abandoned art manufactures, and now produces porcelain utensils for use in laboratories, hospitals, and so forth.
Entering the present century, the student finds one of the greatest names in Japan's keramic annals. Nishimura Zengoro was the eleventh descendant of a potter who worked at Nara, in the province of Yamato, about the year 1501. The family then occupied itself chiefly with the manufacture of earthenware idols, but towards the close of the century it became famous for the excellence of its fire-boxes (furo). These were an important article of Cha-no-Yu equipment, and their manufacture often occupied the attention of the most skilled keramists. Patronised by the renowned dilettanti Shukō and Jō-o, the Nishimura family's furo came into fashion, and the production was continued successfully down to the time of the tenth generation, whose representative was Nishimuro Zengoro, known in art circles as Ryōzen. It is of this man's son that special note must be taken. His name was the same as that of his father,—Zengoro,—but by keramists he was called Hōzen. At first he was apparently content to follow the example of his ancestors, and to manufacture only fire-boxes. Even in this work his remarkable dexterity in combining pâtes of different colours gave earnest of greater achievements in other branches. In the Kyowa era (1801–1803) he studied diligently at the Awata factory, and practised the manufacture of decorated porcelain and faience. Before long his céladons and blue-and-white porcelain attracted wide attention, and to these, like his great rival Mokubei, he added admirable imitations of the so-called old Kōchi-yaki (Cochin-Chinese faience). The conditions of the time were especially favourable to the development of his art. Long-continued peace had filled the coffers of the nobles, and induced those luxurious habits of life among which art products find their best market. The Court at Yedo, presided over by Iyenari, eleventh prince of the Tokugawa dynasty, set an example of brilliant extravagance to which the feudal princes were nothing loath to conform, while the now well-established custom of sending to the Shōgun yearly presents of pottery and porcelain from the various districts, had engendered a wholesome rivalry among the provincial factories. Before long Zengoro's fame attracted the attention of Harunori, feudal chief of Kishū. He invited the potter (A.D. 1827) to his province, and there set up for him, within the precincts of the Castle Park, a kiln at which was produced the celebrated Oniwa-yaki (honourable park) ware, or Kairaku-en ware, as it is also called from the stamp it bears. It was an imitation of the Cochin-Chinese faience described above, but in richness and purity of colour it surpassed its original. Like Luca della Robbia, Zengoro made the composition and application of glazes an especial study. The works of his successors and predecessors may be searched in vain for examples of parallel perfection in this branch of keramics. His aubergine porcelain, and the rich combinations of turquoise blue, purple, and yellow shown in the glazes of his faience, amply justify the immense popularity attained by the Kairaku-en ware. A prominent place among his achievements belongs to his "Kinrande" or "Akaji-kinga," which bears the stamp "Eiraku." The idea of this porcelain was derived from the much-valued Chinese "rouge vif" of the Yung-lo period (1403–1425), and the Japanese potter succeeded in producing a colour little, if at all, inferior to the best examples of the original. In fact, his coral red glaze, lustrous and at the same time exquisitely soft, with its wealth of golden decoration and reserved medallions containing pictures in brilliant blue sous couverte, must be classed among the keramic masterpieces, not of Japan alone, but of the whole world. These terms, Kinrande (scarlet-and-gold-brocade style), and Akaji-kinga (golden designs on a red ground), are descriptive. The term Eiraku was suggested by the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese period-name Yung-lo. The Chief of Kiushū also bestowed upon Zengoro another seal inscribed with the ideographs Kahin Shi-riu (vide Plates of Marks). This the potter appears to have used to mark his choicest pieces only; a distinction which accords with the material of which the two seals were made, that bearing the characters Eiraku being of silver, and that bearing the characters Kahin Shi-riu of gold. He has left a brief account, written by himself, of his visit to the Prince of Kishū. It runs thus: "In October of the tenth year of Bunsei (1827), Kinkosai Sōsa being charged with the management of affairs relating to the Kii Court, had the honour of an audience with the Prince in the grand salon of Nishihama Palace. On that occasion I, Nishimura Hōzen, was permitted to be present, at the Prince's command, and had lodgings assigned to me in the Riuin-tei. During my sojourn in the capital (Wakayama) I was treated with the most gracious consideration. A kiln was built for my use in the Park, and workmen placed at my disposal. In addition to many marks of signal favour, a gold seal, bearing the characters 'Ka-hin Shi-riu' was given to me, with injunction not to affix it indiscriminately. I also received a silver seal, with the characters 'Ei-raku,' for marking my private manufactures. What an occasion was it for me to be loaded with such high honours! What happiness to be admitted into the august presence of the Prince! Such good fortune is not met with twice in a thousand years. It redounds to the perpetual fame of our family." From the time of this visit the fame of Hōzen, or Eiraku as he was thenceforth commonly called, rapidly increased. He established himself at Kaseyama, in the neighbourhood of Nara, and manufactured all sorts of choice wares. In 1840 he was invited to Setsu by the Lord of Koriyama, and he there instructed the potters in various processes of their art, returning after a few months to Kaseyama. It had been for some time the fashion with the magnates of the Western capital to test the great potter's skill by asking him to copy chefs-d'œuvre of Chinese, Korean, and even Dutch origin, which had been handed down in their families for generations. Zengoro's success in these trials of skill is said to have been remarkable. It is recorded that a fire-box, secretly borrowed by the Chief Minister Takatsukasa from the custodians of the Kono-e heirlooms, was so perfectly imitated at the Eiraku workshop that the original and the imitation were not distinguishable. This feat procured for Zengoro another seal bearing the inscription Tokin-ken (the weighty potter); a mark which he used only on wares of the very highest character, and which is consequently very seldom met with.
From Prince Arisugawa he also received a document conferring the title of Itō-seimai (the world-renowned keramist). In 1840 he opened a new kiln in Narikata-machi, near Omuro, in Kyōtō, finding there clay well suited to the manufacture of faience after the style of the celebrated Nomura Ninsei. He did not close the factory near Nara, but handed it over to his son Sōzaburo. The faience produced by Hōzen at Omuro was called Omuro-yaki. It had a hard pâte, and its glaze differed from the ordinary wares of Kyōtō in being of a somewhat viscous, granular character. The decoration was at once chaste and rich; gold, red, white, black, and silver being the colours principally employed. This manufacture did not continue long. In 1850 Hōzen's house was destroyed by a conflagration. He moved to Otsu, and constructing another kiln on the shores of Lake Biwa, devoted himself to the production of porcelain decorated with blue under the glaze, or in the Akaji-kinga style described above. Here he was known by the name of Butsuyu. The exact date of his death is not recorded: it probably occurred about 1855. He left two sons, Sōzaburo, already mentioned, and Zengoro, whose art name was Wazen. Of these, the latter was the more skilful, but both were palpably inferior to their father. In 1858 the brothers, together with a fellow keramist, Ohashi Rakuzen, were invited by the Lord of Kaga to assist the revival of the pottery industry in his province. Sōzaburo returned to Kyōtō after a year's absence, but Wazen remained six years in Kaga, where he materially assisted in developing the Akaji-kinga style of decoration—gold designs on a red ground—now regarded as characteristic of Kaga porcelain. Specimens of this ware manufactured by him or under his direction are to be found without great difficulty. They are generally marked with the place of their production (vide Marks and Seals), and can thus be easily distinguished. It may be well to refer here to an erroneous notion widely entertained that Zengoro Hōzen visited Kaga, and that some of the specimens manufactured there are his work. Such is not the case. He had been dead some three years before his sons received the Prince of Kaga's invitation.
When Zengoro Wazen revisited Kyōtō, the national troubles induced by the opening of foreign intercourse were tending to an acute stage, and all art industries had suffered from the depression incidental to such a revolution. He found his brother working in partnership with Ohashi Rakusen under circumstances of great difficulty. Wazen changed the family name from Nishimura to Eiraku, and for a time attempted to find a market for his ware in the disturbed city. Unsuccessful, he migrated to Okazaki, in the province of Mikawa, in company with Ohashi Rakusen, and there opened a factory. His brother, meantime, established himself in Ōsaka and died there in 1873. Wazen ultimately returned to Kyōtō and settled at Abura-kōji, where his son Eiraku Tokuzen now carries on the business partnership with Ohashi Rakusen. Tokuzen's pieces are not without merit, but they do not approach the productions of his grandfather. It may be safely stated, indeed, that Zengoro Hōzen was the greatest and most versatile among the keramists of Kyōtō. His incomparable aubergine, turquoise, and yellow glazes; his coral grounds with gold designs; his enamelled and blue-and-white porcelains; his white ware with designs in relief; his artistic faience, and his pottery of variously coloured clays—all these are masterpieces. It may be 
E-Garatsu.
Seventeenth century. (See page 311.)
E-Hagi Faience.
Eighteenth century. (See page 345.)
Shuntai-Yaki Vase.
(See page 279.)
The remaining keramists of Kyōtō whose achievements have made them conspicuous are as follows:
Zōrōku was a potter of Gojō-zaka, and his family name was Mashimizu Jutarō. His father, Shimizu Genemon, was a head-man of Kugamura in the province of Yamashiro. Jutarō studied the art under his uncle Wake Kitei (vide Kitei). Having established himself at Gojō in 1849, he adopted the art name of Zōrōku, and, by order of Prince Myōhō-in, changed his family name to Mashimizu. He did not originate any new style of decoration. His faience is, however, not only of excellent technique, but also true to the best traditions of the chaste old Kyōtō school. He further distinguished himself as a manufacturer of céladon porcelain. In 1864, when the well-known master of Tea Ceremonials, Sen-no Sōshitsu, had the honour of organising a Cha-no-Yu entertainment in the Imperial Palace, Zōrōku, by special command, manufactured a tea-jar and teacups for the occasion. In recognition of this service he received the name of Sōgaku. He died in 1878, and was succeeded by his son, Jutarō, who continues the business on the same lines.
Kitei was a potter of Gojō-zaka, and his family name was Wake Heikichi. He commenced the manufacture of faience in the Kan-en era (1748–1750), adopting methods which did not differ appreciably from those of Dōhachi. His son, of the same name, was equally skilled. Kitei of the third generation, who commenced work during the Bunsei era (1818–1829), acquired considerable reputation as a maker of blue-and-white porcelain. Kitei of the fourth generation now carries on the industry.
Seifū Yohei was a potter of Gojō-zaka, whose art name was Baihin. The son of a bookseller, Yasuda Yahei, who lived in Kanazawa, he came to Kyōtō during the Bunsei era (1818–1829), and having studied keramics under the second Dōhachi, opened a factory on his own account in 1844. He manufactured both pottery and porcelain, taking his models for the latter chiefly from Chinese sources. He also acquired reputation for his Raku ware decorated with gold and enamels, and for his blue-and-white porcelain, made in imitation of antique Chinese pieces. In 1857 he was specially employed by the Abbot of the great temple Honganji, to manufacture porcelain vessels with red and gold decoration for use in the monastery, and his success greatly added to his fame. An intimate friend of Tsuruna Shōō and Ota Kaisen, he obtained designs from these artists, and often induced them to decorate his wares themselves. He was succeeded by his son, the second Seifū Yohei (art name Gokei) in 1861, who studied painting under Maida Chōdō. This keramist confined himself almost entirely to the manufacture of porcelain. He acquired reputation for skill in preparing and applying coloured enamels, and for the delicacy of his designs in relief. The family is now represented by the third Seifū Yohei, whose art name is Baikei. He is a brother of Gokei, and succeeded to the business in 1878, Gokei's son being then only eight years of age. Seifū Yohei is a potter of great ability. He has studied painting under Tanomura Shōko, and has a wide circle of artist friends of whose designs he makes frequent use. His porcelain is admirable, both in technique and artistic qualities, and in many respects he ranks as one of his country's greatest potters. Further reference will be made to him in speaking of modern keramic developments.
Yosōbei, called also Iseya, a potter of Gojō-zaka, began to work in the Kyōwa era (1801–1803). He manufactured faience only, and his reputation rested on the severity and chastity of his decorative designs. He was succeeded by his son, whose art name was Chōwaken. The latter formed a partnership with Wake Kitei and his (Kitei's) nephew Kumakichi (called also Furōken Kamefu), and the three manufactured blue-and-white and enamelled porcelain of excellent quality. Chōwaken died in 1845. It is with his productions alone that the name of Yosōbei, or Yosō, is generally connected, his father's manufactures being scarcely known.
Kanzan Denshichi, a potter of Kyōmizu, is a native of Seto in Owari, where he studied the keramic art at an early age. Subsequently he travelled from one to another of the most noteworthy potteries throughout Japan, and having mastered their various processes, settled, in 1861, at Kyōmizu-zaka in Kyōtō. His earliest productions did not attract much attention, and after the abolition of feudalism he saw nothing better than to adapt his designs solely to the taste of foreign markets. The result was a faience loaded with decoration in gold and pigments. Among modern Kyōtō wares this is, perhaps, the best known outside Japan. Though too often a gaudy, meretricious production, unworthy to be classed with the choice efforts of Japanese keramists, some specimens are very beautiful. In truth, when Kanzan really puts forth his strength, he manufactures faience which, alike in pâte, glaze, crackle, and decoration, supports comparison with anything of the kind ever made in Japan.
Shōfu Katei, a potter of Kyōmizu, came thither, in 1850, from Owari, of which province he was a native. His original name was Kitō Kajuro, but when settling in Kyōtō he called himself Katei, and assumed the art name of Shōfu-tei. He did not distinguish himself for originality. The only point to be noted with reference to his faience is that, being an ardent devotee and student of Buddhism, his decorative motives were often of a religious character, as, for example, the Shichi-fuku-jin, the Jugo Dōji, the Juroku Rakan, the Rishi, and so forth. The first Shōfu-tei was succeeded by his son, of the same name, in 1864, who still carries on the industry with considerable success.
Okumura Yasutaro, a potter of Kadowakicho (a branch street of Gojō-zaka), commenced the manufacture of faience in 1864. His art name is Shōzan. This keramist's skill in imitating the works of the old masters, especially Ninsei and Kenzan, is very remarkable. A cup made by him used to be exhibited in a museum of antiquities in Tōkyō as a genuine production of Nomura Ninsei, and there is no doubt that many of his productions are similarly misjudged in Western collections. Shōzan is a true representative of Japanese household industry. Apart from the mechanical operations of grinding and mixing clays, every process of the manufacture is performed by the artist himself within the precincts of his cottage. Among his wares one only can lay claim to any originality. It is faience of which the surface is partially coated with green sand resembling an incipient growth of moss. Such conceits are not common in Japan. They are confined, for the most part, to the inartistic works of Makuzu (vide Yukansai).
Sawamura Tosa, a potter of Gojō-zaka, was a pupil of the third Rokubei. He opened a factory in 1876, and employs himself chiefly in producing wine and tea vessels. There is nothing remarkable about his work.
Asami Gorosuke, a potter of Gojō-zaka, was a pupil of the second Rokubei and also of the third. He opened a factory in 1852 and devoted himself principally to manufacturing blue-and-white porcelain. He adopted the art name of Shonzui Gorosuke, but there is little danger that his pieces will ever be mistaken for those of the father of Japanese porcelain manufacture, Shonzui Gorodayu.
Yamamoto Tatsunosuke, a potter of Gojō-zaka, studied the art under Nakamura Masagoro (vide Ebisei) and opened a factory in 1864. His art name is Riuzan. He manufactures both faience and porcelain, but chiefly the latter.
Aki Zenkichi, a potter of Kyōmizu, opened a factory in 1876 and copied the methods of Kenzan.
Ito Koemon, better known by his art name of Tōzan, opened a factory at Gojō-zaka in 1862, and obtained some distinction as a manufacturer of faience for foreign use. He adopts the Awata style, using for the most part floral decoration. His productions, shown at competitive exhibitions in Japan, have obtained various certificates and awards of merit, and will be referred to again in connection with modern keramic developments.
Morimoto Sukezaemon, a native of Kaseyama, in the province of Yamashiro, discovered porcelain stone in the vicinity of his house in 1827, and engaged an expert of Gojō-zaka, Kyōtō, to assist in opening a factory. The ware produced was porcelain decorated with blue under the glaze after Chinese models. Small pieces only, chiefly teapots, obtained any measure of public favour. This Kaseyama-yaki, as it is called, does not strictly belong to the present section, but is generally classed with Kyōtō wares. As late as 1847 factory flourished under the patronage of Prince Ichijo, but with the fall of feudalism (1868) its activity ceased.
Among the potters of Kyōtō a woman, originally called Nobu, but known in art as Otagaki Rengetsu, has left a well-remembered name. Her father was a nobleman of Ise, but on her mother's second marriage with a vassal of the Kameoka chief, in Tamba, she was adopted into the family of Otagaki Banzaemon, a gentleman in the service of the great temple Chion-in, in Kyōtō. As was often the case in those times with girls of gentle birth, she served until her eighteenth year as a lady-in-waiting in the household of the Kameoka chief. She then returned to Kyōtō and married, but after the deaths of her husband and her only child, she shaved her head and retired from secular life, assuming the name of Rengetsu. This happened in 1823. Rengetsu was then thirty-two years of age. She lived to be eighty-five, and during the whole period of her widowhood she appears to have made the manufacture of pottery and the writing of poetry her chief pastimes. In both she showed much proficiency. Until a recent date strips of illuminated paper with verses in her own handwriting used to be sold in Kyōtō. Many of these compositions are full of grace and feeling. It is related that within an hour of her decease she composed the lines:—
Tsuyu hodo mo
kokoro ni kakaru
kumo mo nashi
kyo wo kagiri no
yūgure no sora
(Without the shadow of a cloud to darken my soul
The sun of my life sets in a clear evening sky.)
Her ware, known generally as Rengetsu-yaki, is unglazed and without enamel decoration. The pâte is thin and hard—manufactured with clay from Shigaraki, in Omi, and Higashi-yama, in Kyōtō—and the decoration is plastic, a characteristic design being a lotus flower and leaves, modelled with admirable fidelity. It has been said that she derived her artist name from her skill in modelling this flower (ren), but the truth is that she chose her subject for the sake of her name. On most of her pieces she wrote verses composed by herself. Rengetsu did not bake her own ware. This part of the work she entrusted to Taizan, of Gojō-zaka, Rokubei of Kyōmizu, or Kuado of Shimogawara. The last-named potter imitated her methods, and specimens of Kuroda Rengetsu-yaki are scarcely to be distinguished from the genuine pottery of Otagaki Rengetsu.
Yukansai, generally known as Roku no Yukansai, opened a factory in Ishibashi-machi, close to the great temple Chion-in, in the year 1705. He devoted himself to the production of faience after the Raku style. His successors followed the same line, but added to their business the preparation and sale of glazing materials. They were named either Chōhei or Chōzo. The representative of the third generation, Chōzo, whose pseudonym was Kōsai, removed to Makuzu-ga-hara, in the Gion district of the city, and there commenced to produce faience with designs in high relief and porcelain decorated with blue under the glaze. He attained considerable distinction. Prince Kujō bestowed on him the name of Roku-roku-rin, and Prince Kacho that of Kōzan. He also received a seal from Kobori Sōchiu, a well-known dilettante, and the title of "Makuzu" from Prince Yasui. Thenceforth his wares were known as Makuzu-yaki. He was succeeded by his son Chōhei, and the latter by his son Hase, who in i860 changed his name to Miyagawa Kōzan. In 1861 Kōzan went to Bizen at the invitation of the Lord of that province, but in the following year he returned to Kyōtō, and at the instigation of a gentleman of Sasshiu, called Komatsu Tatewaki, devoted himself to producing imitations of Satsuma faience. In 1869 he moved to Ota, in the neighbourhood of Yokohama, and has remained there ever since, manufacturing wares which will be spoken of by-and-by.
The porcelain manufacture of Kyōtō is now an important industry, but some really choice specimens are produced. The export trade, however, is supplied by wholesale processes. Hundreds of vases and jars, rudely and gaudily decorated with impure blue under the glaze and crude pigments above it, are sent westward, to the great injury of the country's art reputation. The materials used in making this porcelain are the clay of Shigaraki, in Omi province, and the stone of Amakusa, an island off the west coast of Kiushu. These are mixed in the proportion of three to seven, or four to six, parts by volume. The Amakusa stone comes as ballast in junks, and the Shigaraki clay has to be transported by land. Thus the expense of manufacture is very considerable and the supply of materials uncertain.
KYOTO PORCELAIN MASSES
| Silica. | Alumina. | Iron Oxide. |
Lime, Potash, etc. |
Water. | |||
|
69.52 | 20.53 | 0.13 | 5.46 | 4.62 | ||
|
74.54 | 17.73 | 0.64 | 5.47 | 1.74 |
To the above mixture of materials from Hizen and Omi, there is added one-half of a volume-part of washed charcoal-powder. Mr. Korschelt suggests that this addition of charcoal may be intended to make the ware more porous, and that it is probably resorted to only in the case of articles which are especially likely to undergo change of form in the kiln. According to the same authority, the porcelain of Kyōtō has a closer resemblance than that of Owari to the European article, but is nevertheless a special kind of ware so far as the raw materials are concerned, its average composition being felspar 33.07, clay substance 29.89, and quartz 35.56. The Kyōtō product is whiter and finer than that of Owari, but yields to the latter in point of transparency.
It will be convenient to note here that among Japanese porcelains six different kinds may be distinguished. Their names and average constituents are as follows:—
CONSTITUENTS OF SIX VARIETIES OF JAPANESE PORCELAIN
| Name. | Felspar. | Clay Substance. | Quartz. | ||
|
42.06 | 28.45 | 27.31 | ||
|
33.07 | 29.89 | 35.56 | ||
|
20.32 | 30.84 | 46.62 | ||
|
15.90 | 39.58 | 42.50 | ||
|
23.09 | 35.70 | 39.38 | ||
|
21.04 | 39.91 | 36.61 |
Each of the principal manufacturing districts in Kyōtō—as Awata, Gojō, and Kyōmizu—has a large kiln where the first baking of the pieces is performed. This kiln consists of a series of arched ovens, arranged one above the other on an inclined plane. The furnace is at the bottom of the tier, and the caloric passes from vault to vault by square, lateral openings. The same general form of kiln is used in Hizen and Owari, with one important difference, that the heat circulates through the vaults by holes cut in the bottom of each. According to the Kyōtō keramists, experience shows that caloric impinging laterally is better suited for the baking of porcelain and pottery than caloric ascending vertically. The fuel used is pine faggots, and the furnace is kept burning for about three days. On the latter point it is not possible to speak with precision. There is no fixed rule. Through a little window in each vault the workmen watch the progress of the baking, or with an iron tongs draw out and examine experimental specimens. At the Awata kiln, however, the condition of the ware is judged by the colour of the flame. Pieces placed in the lower tiers, and therefore exposed to the highest temperature, are enclosed in seggars, and in every case a powdered stone (called Hinoka-seki) obtained from Otagi, in Yamashiro, is employed to prevent adhesion to the floor of the oven or the base of the seggars. This stoving is final, in the case of specimens decorated only with blue under the glaze. Where enamels or glazes à demi feu are employed, they are subsequently fixed at a lower temperature in little household kilns (called Kin-gama).
Associated with the construction of kilns is the name of an expert, Ogawa Kyuemon, a native of Wakasugi, in the province of Kaga, who became known for his skill in this matter during the Bunsei era (1818–1829). There is no information with respect to the improvements introduced by him, but in 1839 employed to construct a kiln at Hinokuchi, in Ōsaka; and in 1847 he was summoned, for the same purpose, to Shikaseyama, in Yamashiro, by Prince Ichijo. The latter was so pleased with Ogawa's work that he bestowed on him a pension in perpetuity. In the same year Ogawa directed the building of a kiln at Otokoyama, in Kiushū, and so late as 1877 he performed a similar office in Ishikawa Prefecture. His son, Tetsu-no-suke, and his grandson U-no-suke (pseudonym Ojuen Bunsai), now manufacture faience at Gojō in Kyōtō.