Japanese Porcelain

The origin of porcelain art in Japan is dominated by two legends. The first talks about a man named Gorodayu Go Shonzui who learned the production processes of porcelain in China during the Cheng Tê period (1506-1521). When he came back to Japan in 1511, he started making porcelain near Arita on the island Kyushu with Chinese raw materials. This legend is based on a manuscript dating from 1789 and is rather doubtful. Porcelain ascribed to the artist seems to be of Chinese origin. The second legend has more credibility. This legend talks about a certain Ri Sampei, a Korean potter brought to Japan by lord Nabeshima Naoshige during the Korean wars at the end of the 16th century. In 1616 he would have discovered porcelain clay or toseki (containing kaolin) at the foot of the Izumiyama mountain near the Nangawara and the tengudani valley. Ri Sampei died on 20 September 1655 (this has been confirmed in 1967 when they found his death certificate).

The making of porcelain in Japan originates from between the two legends and was probably introduced by Korean potters at the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th century. Porcelain made at that time is called Shoki Imari and covers the first half of the 17th century. We distinguish three styles : the Korean style, the Chinese Tianqi Style (sometimes referred to as ko sometsuke) and the Hiekoba style. All are with underglaze blue painting. Most articles were made for the tea ceremony (chanoyu). The production of temmoku (a kind of celadon) still continued.

A new evolution in the Japanese porcelain art evolved from the changes in China during the transition period between the Ming and the Qing dynasty. Ching Tê Chen, the most important Chinese production area of porcelain, became inactive as a result of the wars. The Dutch , who bought large cargoes of Chinese porcelain, had to find a new supplier. They asked Japan to provide them with Chinese style porcelain. The demand was larger than the offer. In 1659, 56.700 pieces were shipped to Batavia, the headquarters of the Dutch V.O.C. (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). All porcelain was in the kraak style of the Chinese Wanli period or in the Chinese transition style and it was made at Arita (therefore it is called "Blue and White Arita"). From 1681 on the Chinese production of porcelain at Ching Tê Chen restarted. Japan came in competition with the Chinese market. China could offer more to the Dutch and the production of Japanese porcelain decreased. Instead the Japanese had more time to deploy their own style. Japanese painting styles from the Tosa and Kano school made their introduction in porcelain art. Although the Japanese style became popular, the European influences still survived and sometimes dominated (export was not completely stopped).

Hereafter we give a brief description of the early export/home market porcelain. Besides the blue and white Arita porcelain mentioned above there was also the introduction of enamelled porcelain several years before the export years. There is a fair possibility that the Japanese developed their own technique of enamelling without copying the Chinese. The first Arita objects with enamels show a blue colouring which was not in use in China at that time. We also know that the Kyo yaki ceramics of Kyoto contained blue and green enamels (already around 1640). We distinct three groups of early enamelled wares. The first group is a continuation of the Shoki Imari style. It is the precursor of the well known Imari style and it consisted of underglaze blue, opaque but dark blue and green enamels and a dull red enamel. This group does not show yellow enamels. The second group uses a colour scheme of blue, bluish green, yellow and red enamels. It never has underglaze blue. The decoration is in "Wanli Kraak" Style and outlined in black. The third group combines yellow, green and aubergine enamels, all opaque. Sometimes a dull red is added to fill in the contours of the drawings with lines and geometrical designs. In this group too they used a black enamel instead of underglaze blue for the outlines. It is a kind of pre Kutani style. Very soon these distinctive colour groups disappear due to enamelling workplaces working together. The aka-e machi is one of the early examples in Arita where several enamelling shops worked close together (1662). From know on the production of porcelain and enamelling was most of the time done at different/separated places.Nevertheless we can still recognise several styles. Here are the major groups found in literature : Blue and white Arita; Arita without underglaze blue; Imari; Kakiemon; Ko Kutani and revived Kutani; Nabeshima; Hirado; Kameyama (19th century)