On Ceramics
Lillian Chen
December 15, 1993
History / Period #8
Japanese report
Pottery
Pottery and porcelain in Japan are very useful. Earthenware pots, types of pottery that are made of common clay, were created for household needs more than four thousand years before Christ. Some were found in ancient Japanese villages. Stoneware, a type of pottery impermeable to liquids, was first made in the 500's. Fine pottery was needed for their tea ceremony. Deeper bowls were for winter and shallower bowls were for summer. There are many varieties of Japanese porcelain. Some of them are Mikawachi, Kutani, Arita, and others. There are also many types of pottery, like Raku, Karatsu, Seto, and others.
Toyozo Arkawa and Ri Sampei are two of Japan's leading potters. Toyozo Arkawa found an ancient kiln on his land and rebuilt it. He uses a potter's wheel and shapes the clay, which is spinning, with his fingers. Arkawa decorates and glazes his pieces, then he fires them in the chambers of his new kiln. The fire blazes for 10 days, and while the pottery is heating, it takes the color from the smoke and ashes. Toyozo fires only what he likes, and only fires his kiln about once a year.
Porcelain is a hard, translucent ceramic made by firing pure clay and glazing it with variously colored fusible materials. The Kakeimon style of porcelain was used in many different European crafts. Japanese porcelain was taken to Europe by the Dutch during the 17th century. Their porcelain shrank in importance because of the new Chinese crafts.
Mikiwachi porcelain was first crafted in the Edo period. The porcelain can be white, or blue and white ware. Mikiwachi porcelain is usually decorated with landscapes, trees, flowers, or Chinese children at play. Some are models of animals. This type of porcelain stopped being produced in 1843, when its quality had gone down.
Kutani ware was decorated with overglaze enamels. This ware was made during the late 17th century. It was started in the small village of Kutani. Some colors of its glazes are red, indigo, purple, green, and yellow. The different wares were white, blue and white, or iron-glazed. Its production ended in the eighteenth century because of financial difficulty. Now, the types of Kutani ware that people want are ones decorated with gold on a coral red background.
Imari ware, often called Arita ware, is highly refined. It was found in 1616 by a Japanese master potter named Ri Sampei. Their wares range from pale gray-blue, green blue, blue and white, and black. It has under glaze painting and overglaze enamels. The designs are from a pure Japanese style of painting called Yamato-e.
Two other Japanese porcelain wares are Nabeshima and Hirado. Nabeshima ware was made after 1675. It is decorated in under glaze blue and enamels. Hirado ware was made from 1712. It is made with under glaze blue decoration.
Pottery is usually either made in the coil method, or on a potter's wheel. The coil method is used by coiling up the clay and smoothing the edges. The potter's wheel spins and the potter smoothes the clay to his liking. Before using the clay, Japanese potters knead their clay with their feet. Sometimes, they age their clay for over a generation, about 25-30 years.
Raku ware tea bowls are hand molded. The ashes in the kiln mix with the pottery's glaze and produce a mottled effect. This ware was not originated in Japan. The inventor was a Korean immigrant, Chojiro. This type of pottery is made exclusively for the Japanese tea ceremony. The bowl is wide, straight-sided, and stands on a narrow base. Its colors are dark brown, light orange red, straw color, green, or cream.
Karatsu ware is marked with dark and light drip glazes. Many Karatsu wares were produced in the 18th century. They originated in Kyushu. This ware dates from the 16th century. The clay that it is made of is sandy and has lots of iron. There are two main types of Karatsu wares- an undecorated type with plain ash drip glaze, or a decorated type with an iron under glaze. Karatsu ware is made by the coiling method and is normally pounded into its shape. This type of ware was also used in the tea ceremony.
Seto ware was made in one of the six ancient kilns. It was influenced by the Chinese Sung pottery. Ki Seto ware is a yellow toned ceramic. There are two main types of Ki Seto ware- a glossy chartreuse yellow, fired in the kiln at a high temperature, and a soft dull glazed pure yellow, heated at low temperatures. Seto ware is made from fine, white clay covered with iron ash glazes. They were produced from the late Muramachi period and onward.
