Sakaida Kakiemon (), or Sakaida Kizaemon (1596 — 1666) was a Japanese potter who invented the style known after him as

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. ...

. He worked in association with Higashijima Tokue, and created the first enamelled porcelain in Japan.

Biography

Sakaida Kakiemon started his porcelain business following the fall of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

in China and the succeeding disruption of traditional Chinese

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 ...

exports to Europe. Sakaida Kakiemon is said to have learned the enamel porcelain technique from a Chinese artisan in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

in 1643. He was the first in Japan to practice overglaze enameling (applying enamel on top of the glazing), a technique developed in China during the Kangxi era of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. He also refined the method for producing a translucent white glaze, known as ''nigoshide''. In the Arita dialect, ''nigoshi'' describes the water used to wash rice, thereby referring to the translucent white of ''nigoshide''. In comparison with other Arita ware, which tends to have a bluish tinge, ''nigoshide'' has virtually no bluish cast. Kakiemon 02

The first pieces were produced in 1643, with Chinese pigments. They are also called ''ko-Imari'', as they were shipped to Europe through the harbour of Imari. Kakiemon ware was extensively exported to Europe by the Dutch, until the Chinese industry was reestablished with the stabilization of the Qing dynasty, and the Dutch then shifted their orders to China, which started to manufacture imitations of the Japanese ware, known as "Chinese Imari". Sakaida Kakiemon's work is said to have been the probable inspiration for

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city ** US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Chantilly (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina ...

and

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

porcelains. The most important European collections are in

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and in the

Zwinger A () is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Successors

The Kakiemon productions almost disappeared by the end of the 18th century, but were revived in the 20th century by his descendants. A contributing factor was the extremely low percentage of achieving perfect results with ''nigoshide''. This was due to risk of cracking from the differing contraction rates of its composite elements, namely, powdered porcelain stone from Izumiyama mountain, clay from Shirakawayama, and stone from Iwayagawachi. The main heir of the family always takes on the name ''Kakiemon''. Sakaida Kakiemon XIV (1934-2013) became a Living National Treasure. The current head Sakaida Kakiemon XV is his son and works at the family kiln in

Arita, Saga is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Nishimatsuura District, Saga, Nishimatsuura District, Saga Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 18,634 in 7867 households, and a population density of 280 people per km2. The ...

Prefecture.

Notes

1596 births 1653 deaths Japanese potters {{Japan-bio-stub