Nabeshima Ware
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is a type of
Japanese pottery is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and Japanese art, art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Types have included earthenware, pottery, stoneware, porcelain, and Blue and white porcelain, blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exception ...
, specifically an unusually high-quality
porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
. It was produced in Ōkawachi kilns managed directly by the Saga Domain under the Nabeshima clan from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
Imari ware is a Western term for a brightly-coloured style of Japanese export porcelain made in the area of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū. They were exported to Europe in large quantities, especially between the second half ...
and Arita ware were also under the control of the Saga Domain, and Nabeshima ware is sometimes regarded as a variant of Imari ware, as its kilns were located in what is now the city of Imari,
Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...
Japan. The technique also differs from that of most Japanese porcelain, with the outlines of the pattern done in
underglaze Underglaze is a method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Because the glaze subsequently covers it, such decoration is completely ...
blue before the
overglaze Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling, or on-glaze decoration, is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firi ...
"enamelled" final decoration. Nabeshima ware was not made for sale, but for the specific use of the Nabeshima clan and as gifts for the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
and various ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
''. It was discontinued in 1871 with the abolition of the feudal domains, but the technique was revived as a modern craft by the Imaizumi Imaemon family, descendants of the master lineage, and has continued to the 21st century.Ford & Impey, 110


History

Arita and Imari in
Hizen Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...
are known as Japan's leading porcelain production areas. In China, porcelain was first produced at the end of the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
, and various types of porcelain were produced mainly in
Jingdezhen Jingdezhen is a prefecture-level city in eastern Jiangxi province with a total population of 1,669,057 (2018), bordering Anhui to the north. It is known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing Chinese ceramics for at least 1,0 ...
from the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
onwards. However, in Japan, pottery and unglazed fired pottery were the mainstream for a long time, and porcelain production only began in the early 17th century. Following the
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...
, many potters from Korea were brought to Japan by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
and various ''daimyō'', and their techniques led to the creation of ceramic production areas throughout
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
. Takatori ware, Agano ware, Karatsu ware, and other types were all founded by potters who came from Korea. Imari ware, which was produced in kilns in Arita and the surrounding areas and shipped from the port of Imari, was also founded based on the techniques brought over by potters from Korea. In 1616, Korean potter Ri Sanpei discovered white porcelain clay in Izumiyama, Arita, and porcelain production began at the Nabeshima clan's Tengudani Kiln. Excavations at the kiln site have revealed that porcelain was first fired not at Tengudani Kiln but at a kiln in the west of Arita, but in any case, it is generally accepted that Japanese porcelain production began in Hizen Province around the 1610s The exact time and circumstances when "Nabeshima ware" began to be produced as a domain product, apart from Imari ware, are unclear, as there are no official domain records remaining. According to
oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
, Nabeshima ware was first made in Iwayagawachi, Arita in 1628, and the kiln was moved to Nangawara, Arita around 1661, and then moved to Ōkawachi, located in the mountains between Arita and Imari, in 1675. However, there is much controversy over these dates and whether or not the small leaf-shaped or fruit-shaped colored plates produced at Iwayagawachi or Nangawara can be called "Nabeshima", most experts agree that "Nabeshima" is generally considered to be a product of the Ōkawachi kiln. As a result of excavation surveys of the Ōkawachi kiln site conducted after 1952, many of the porcelain fragments excavated matched those handed down through the generations, and it has been academically confirmed that Nabeshima was produced in Ōkawachi. However, there are few Nabeshima pieces with an inscription indicating date of production, and the same patterns are often used for a long period of time, making it difficult to track changes in style over time. This was recognized even from the early Edo Period, as surviving official documents often complained that the Nabeshima style "has become monotonous" and encouraging the adoption of products from other kilns with more innovative designs. One of the patterns used is with the depiction of Chinese children playing. Official documents also make frequent complaints after late delivery from the Ōkawachi kiln. Production of Nabeshima ware ended in 1871, but the techniques and traditions of Nabeshima have been revived and passed down by the Imaizumi Imaemon family. The 9th Imaizumi Imaemon died in 1873, two years after the abolition of the kiln, and the 10th Imaemon (1847-1927) took over as head of the family at the age of 26. In traditional Nabeshima ware, the underglaze and final firing processes were carried out in Ōkawachi, while the overglaze process was carried out in Akaemachi. However, the 10th Imaemon built a climbing kiln himself and established an integrated production system in his own workshop, from shaping, underglaze and final firing to overglaze. The 11th Imaemon (1873-1948) produced items for the
Imperial Household of Japan The is the reigning dynasty of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present constitution of Japan, the emperor is "the symbol of the State ...
, and produced not only plates, which had been Nabeshima's mainstay, but also a variety of vessels suited to modern life. The 12th Imaemon (1897-1975) produced pieces incorporating contemporary designs, and the Iro Nabeshima Technique Preservation Society, which he established, has been recognized as a holder of the Important Intangible Cultural Property "Iro Nabeshima" designation. After his death, the Important Intangible Cultural Property designation was lifted in 1975, but in 1976, the Iro Nabeshima Imaemon Technique Preservation Society, represented by the 13th Imaemon (1926-2001), was redesignated as a preservation organization. He was also recognized as Living National Treasure, and developed a technique called "usuzumi" (light ink) that uses
uranium oxide Uranium oxide is an oxide of the element uranium. The metal uranium forms several oxides: * Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (UO2, the mineral uraninite or pitchblende) * Diuranium pentoxide or uranium(V) oxide (U2O5) * Uranium trioxide or ...
as a coloring agent. After his death of the 14th Imaemon (1962- ), his second son, took over the name in 2002, and in 2014, was also recognized a Living National Treasure. The earliest document that introduces Nabeshima ware to the western world is said to be ''Japan and China subtitled Their History Arts and Literature'' (1901) by Francis Brinkley. Physicist and House of Peers member
Masatoshi Ōkōchi Viscount was a Japanese physicist and business executive. He was the third director of the Riken Institute, a position which he assumed in 1921 and held for 25 years. During this period, he was notable for establishing the ''Riken Konzern'', a ...
(1878-1952) was also a noted ceramics researcher, is credited with the first work on Nabeshima ware in Japanese, "Kakiemon and Iro Nabeshima" in 1916.


Characteristics

The main products of Nabeshima ware were circular plates, with standardized diameters, typically in sets of five or ten pieces with the same design. There are also tripod plates with short legs around the base, octagonal plates, and deformed plates such as flower-shaped plates., but these are comparatively rare. Nabeshima plates have a unique shape called ''mokuhai-gata'', which has a high base when viewed from the side and a taut curve from the base to the edge.. Although there are also products such as vases and bottles, lidded bowls, and incense burners, there are only a few examples of each. Tea wares, which were actively produced at other kilns in the same period, were never produced at Nabeshima. In addition to the colored painting known as "Iro-Nabeshima," occasionally "blue-and-white" designs using
cobalt blue Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminium(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 Â°C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighte ...
,
celadon Celadon () is a term for pottery denoting both wares ceramic glaze, glazed in the jade green Shades of green#Celadon, celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware" (the term specialists now tend to use), and a type of transparent glaze, ...
or a rusty glaze are known to exist. The most common "Iro-Nabeshima" is a technique in which a design is painted over a vessel with a blue-and-white design, and then the vessel is fired again with a low-temperature oxidizing flame. "Iro-Nabeshima" generally uses only the three colors red, yellow, and green, and occasionally black and purple are used, but as a rule, gold leaf, as seen in Imari, is not used. In China and other Japanese kilns, celadon glaze is generally used alone, but Nabeshima often combines celadon with blue and white glaze and colored paintings, such as "blue and white glaze" and "blue and white painting". The patterns are diverse, including geometric designs such as chintz and snowflake patterns, stylized drawings of plants, vegetables, and utensils, and pictorial landscapes, but all of them are characterized by their purely Japanese designs, which distinguishes them from Imari ware, which was modeled on Chinese traditions. Some Nabeshima works also depict subjects that have no allegorical or symbolic meaning, such as radishes, carrots, and eggplants. Some Nabeshima plates from the heyday have designs that only appear on the edges, with the center left blankFord & Impey, 110-112 A distinctive feature of Nabeshima plates is that the top and bottom of the design on the front and back are linked. On the back of the plate, three pattern units are arranged at equal intervals, so that one of the corners of the triangle they form coincides with the upper part of the image on the front of the plate. The sides of the foot often feature a comb-tooth pattern. It is customary to leave no inscriptions within the foot, and to finish it in solid white.


Ōkawachi Nabeshima Kiln Site

270px, Ōkawachi kiln site The was designated a National Historic Site in 2003. Currently, the remains of the official kiln, dumping ground for defective products, storage hut for refractory containers, pottery production site, the clan official residence, and the potter's residences remain over a wide area within the historic site. The kiln is estimated to have a horizontal length of about 137 meters, 27 to 30 firing chambers, and a stepped multi-chambered climbing kiln structure. Nabeshima ware was fired in the three central chambers where the fire was the hottest, while the other chambers were used to fire non-Nabeshima ware products. This kiln site is about 10 minutes by car from Imari Station on the
JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...
Chikuhi Line. File:Nabeshima-Ware Bowl, 18th century, Japan, porcelainwith enamel - Art Institute of Chicago - DSC00233.JPG, Bowl with gourd flasks design, 18th century, porcelain with enamel File:Floral Plate Nabeshima.JPG, Plate with floral design in the
Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the kilns around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province (today, Saga Prefecture) from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards. ...
style, Arita, late 17th century,
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
File:Dish with hollyhock design, Nabeshima ware, Edo period, 18th century, overglaze enamel - Tokyo National Museum - DSC06022.JPG, Dish with
hollyhock ''Alcea'' is a genus of over 80 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Americas, the Iliamna rivularis, streamban ...
design and small kintsugi repair on top, overglaze enamel, 18th century, Edo period)


Notes


References

*Ford, Barbara Brennan, and Oliver R. Impey, ''Japanese Art from the Gerry Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art'', 1989, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
fully online
*Smith, Lawrence, Harris, Victor and Clark, Timothy, ''Japanese Art: Masterpieces in the British Museum'', 1990, British Museum Publications,


External links


Japan Heritage
{{Authority control Culture in Saga Prefecture Japanese porcelain Ruined castles in Japan Hizen Province Historic Sites of Japan Imari, Saga