Some stories have endings that are just not what you want it to be. You kind of want to go back and rewrite it to fix where it got messed up.
The history of Satsuma is one of those things that just needs a good fix from all those centuries ago. It is such a complex, mixed up and so many variations of who did what and how many different people made Satsuma. It’s confusing to be honest.
Now the way to look at that, there can only be one original, authentic ‘version’ of something. These ‘spinoffs’ are not authentic Satsuma. Just an opinion.
The authentic Satsuma was actually not produced by Japanese potters. The artisans for these pieces were Koreans who were taken by the Japanese as war prisoners, in a sense, in the late 16th century. Japan’s purpose for doing this was to build up their economy because Korean pottery was so valuable on the Japanese market.
The Koreans did their bidding and settled into their new environment producing their creations for several centuries. They did this throughout the Edo period which ran from 1603 through 1868.
The Satsuma pieces made prior to the 1868 period were generally left unsigned and are minimally decorated with the focus being more so on function. After that period, you’ll see markings denoting the workshops they were made in and more elaborate, illustrative design.
In 1852, the United States decided that they didn’t like that Japan was keeping to themselves with their economy, art, technology and literature. They wanted them to be a global player, so the U.S. President paid a visit and was able to work with Japan to come to an agreement where Japan would begin to export and do business with the west.
After that, Japan decided to export the Samsuta pottery throughout the west into the United States and Europe. They began to mass produce the pieces in factories that were constructed for just this purpose. The pottery gained such significant recognition that any pottery from Japan during this period became known in the west as Satsuma pottery.
The problem with the factory made, exported pieces was that the quality was much less than that of the original, authentic Korean artisans and it was not nearly as attractive. There were some with overdone Japanese themes that bordered on slightly gaudy.
This took something that was so revered and valued and valuable where people were kidnapped in order to benefit economically from their skills and talents to something that even the western culture didn’t want anything to do with.
Collectors started looking for the ‘older’ more refined what they deemed as ‘early Satsuma’. The pieces they were actually getting, though, were better qualities from other potteries done in the 19th century before Meiji e.g. Kyoto’s Awata or counterfeits.
How can you know if you’re getting a counterfeit? Usually a marking will have the name of a family workshop written in Japanese. There will be a cross with a circle crest of the Shimazu which was an attempt to associate the pieces with the original Satsuma kilns. Some may be stamped, hand painted is best. It may say Satsuma or Satsuma Yaki. For those who can’t read Japanese, you can go online and find resources to match the marking to a known workshop.
Little trick for authenticity sake: The body of a true Satsuma piece won’t ring when tapped.
So, Satsuma is divided into two categories. The original, Ko-Satsuma, from the 1600s which was plain, dark clay and built for function. Then there was the Kyo-Satsuma, the elaborately decorated, white-bodied pieces from the 19th century.
There’s nothing like an original in my book.