Japanese potters have often times taken cues from Chinese and Korean artisans, using that influence to mold their own unique and distinctive pieces.
It’s unusual that they looked to other cultures for inspiration when this was something they basically were ‘famous’ for. But I guess even the greatest artists hit a creative block, if you will, and need some prompting.
Actually, in 1644 China found itself having some internal unrest which affected its booming exporting business of porcelain to Europe. This made finding Chinese porcelain very difficult which Europe didn’t like. They decided to ask Japan to step in and amp up production of porcelain instead of China. Europe wasn’t able to do it themselves, they didn’t have the techniques at that time.
From the early eighteenth century, in the town of ARITA, the Japanese began to make the very first, oldest and possibly most popular Japanese porcelain product, following Chinese ways, … known as ARITA WARE, wares with over-glazing were called IMARI WARE or KAKIEMON. It has been a strong influencer of European ceramics. To know you have a piece of this lovely blue and white-designed porcelain made from white clay, the marking the potters used is a hazy under-glaze.
Some Japanese pottery has origins that vary depending on the memory. There is one where a kiln was built on the side of AKAHADA Mountain and a potter decided the pottery needed to have some Nara-e painted on it. Nara-e are illustrations from picture books using vibrantly colored brushstrokes themes around some old Noh songs or possibly fairytales. These pieces known as AKAHADA WARE were especially popular among the tea masters. The kilns grew to where they had three of them running at a time but eventually they decreased back down to just one which today is known as Mt. Akahada Kilns or in Japanese, Akahada Yama Motogama.
The tea ceremony is very sacred in Japan. In 1602, a potter was invited by a tea master to come and build his kiln in their area. He built a ‘climbing’ kiln in AGANO in Buzen Province. It was while this tea master was in leadership, merely thirty years, that the intricate AGANO WARE became established on the market.
This pottery holds a certain grace. It is lightweight and slender in form but not overly so. There is very little decoration used on the pieces, but there is often a vortex pattern to the base that has been believed to be a naturally occurring affect caused when the potter carved the foot. It has since become the signature of the pieces.
This pottery holds very dignified textures and there are a variety of different enamel that are used, but the most brilliant is the green rust enamel using oxidized copper. It leaves the piece with an outstanding, vivid blue color.
There is such a pride in craftsmanship with the pieces of Japanese pottery that amazes. Even the misshapen, irregular pieces that they intended to be such.