REKIHAKU

No.110 A Witness to History

Collection of Ceramics and Porcelain Inscribed with Production Years

Mino. Large flower vase with iron oxide glaze. Shoho 3 (1646)	Bizen. Lion with ball figurine. Keian 1 (1648)	Seto. Small dish illustrated with a pair of cranes. Bunsei 9 (1826)	Arita. Five-sided bowl with flower and fan illustration. Bunsei era (1818-30)

Modern ceramics and porcelain made in the main production areas, in Karatsu and Arita in Hizen (Saga prefecture), Seto and Mino (Aichi and Gifu prefectures) and the Capital. Hizen was the first to assimilate technologies from China and the Korean Peninsula and produce porcelain. The Saga Clan (Nabeshima family) then established a sophisticated, organized production system and made items for use in daily life for the domestic market. They also produced high-quality items for use as gifts and for export. In Seto and Mino, dipped glaze ceramics, such as the white-glaze Shino style and green-glaze Oribe style, came to be produced, overtaking the traditional pottery production that had existed since medieval times. The Hizen techniques were passed on and porcelain came to be manufactured after the start of the 19th century, the latter part of the Edo Period. A vibrant style of painting developed in the Capital, supported by the high cultural standards there. Characterized by painstaking production methods, there are many examples of exquisite tableware items.

In other areas as well, kilns were used from medieval times. Particularly in the latter part of the Edo Period a great number of kilns came to be built in all areas of the country and this contributed a variety of new influences to modern ceramics and porcelain.

Sometimes these ceramics and porcelain items were inscribed by spatula, ink, blue pigment and other means. Pieces inscribed with production yeats are called kinenmei porcelain and provide production dates and a variety of other data. Many of the pieces inscribed with production yeats are special items such as offerings presented to shrines and temples, special order-made items, items made for use in clan castles and residences that were produced in clan kilns, brand items from particular high-quality ceramics and porcelain makers' kilns, and personal utensils for writing. For that reason, they aren't necessarily suited for use as standard references for the dating of plates and bowls excavated in large quantities. However, these pieces can illustrate history at the individual level as they reveal the relationships between those who gave and received offerings, the location and studio of production, etc. As such they are indeed useful resources that hold great potential.

Since 1993, the National Museum of Japanese History has extensively collect data concerning porcelain and ceramics inscribed with production yeats from around the country. Those results have recently been published in both volumes of the 89th National Museum of Japanese History Research Report. We have selected several pieces from the museum's collection to be introduced here.

Jiro Muraki
Archeological Research Department
National Museum of Japanese History

Arita. Blue and white porcelain sake cups with inscription for good fortune. Hoei era (1704-11)	Arita. Blue and white porcelain 12-sided plate with landscape. Tenmei era (1781-89)
Sanda (Harima). Blue porcelain tea container with circling dragon. Bunka era (1804-18)	Seto. Hand basin illustrated in iron pigment with pines and plovers over divided gray and green glaze. Kansei 4 (1792)
Seineiken (Kii). Ink stone case with gray and green flowing glaze and dappled inscription. Tenpo 4 (1833)	Kameyama (Hizen). Water jar of blue and white porcelain with poem inscription and illustration of a boat returning to port. Tenpo 4 (1833)