Pottery

C

1

Nara to Kamakura Periods

With the Nara period (710-784), Japan's first historical epoch, the full impact of Tang China ware became obvious in Japan's production of high-fire pottery. Some glazes were monochromatic green or yellowish-brown; some were two-colour, green and white; a few had three of these colours on rough greyish bodies. The glaze patterns were streaks and spots, not quite as refined as Tang ceramics. Most examples of this work are preserved at the Shosoin imperial treasury at Nara.

In the early Heian period (794-894), natural ash glazes were further developed, and celadons were introduced to Japan. Then, because of disruptions in relations with China in the late Heian, or Fujiwara, period (894-1185), the quality of the pottery declined. Once contact with Song China was renewed in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the ceramics industry flourished, this time centred at Seto, near Nagoya. Ki-seto, or yellow Seto—still made today—was influenced by the popular Song celadons; the Japanese equivalents, however, were fired in oxidizing kilns, which gave their glazes yellow and amber hues. Tokoname, a rustic pottery for everyday use, was also made in the Fujiwara period, as were other types that retain their primitive appeal.

C

2

Muromachi and Momoyama Periods

Although the Ashikaga shoguns of the Muromachi period (1338-1568) did not encourage ceramic arts, the Chinese-influenced tradition of the tea ceremony, which began at that time, stimulated the manufacture of the beautiful vessels used in this elaborate ritual. The cult of the tea ceremony spread to the military and merchant classes in the Momoyama period (1573-1603). Its stoneware and porcelain vessels reflected the tasteful, subtle beauty and elegance of the ceremony. Each shape had a specific function and name.

One sought-after variety of stoneware tea bowl, related to the Chien ware of China, was temmoku, with a thick purplish-brown glaze that is still popular. Seto kilns produced such fine pottery that the works of other kilns also came to be called Seto ware. Even more famous were the Raku wares, still made today by the 14th generation of the same family. Raku ware—tea ceremony vessels, other pottery, and tiles—is shaped by hand; its irregular forms follow a prescribed aesthetic of asymmetry. The glaze is brushed on in several thin layers, and the pot is fired at low temperatures. When the glaze is molten, the pot is pulled from the kiln with tongs; it cools quickly, and the glaze crackles under the thermal shock. Raku ware is admired by potters throughout the world for its rugged shapes and soft, sombre lead glazes that sometimes run downwards in thick drops. Also prized for the tea ceremony was Oribe ware, typified by brown iron-oxide painted designs derived from motifs of textile decoration, juxtaposed with an irregular splash of runny, transparent green glaze.

Another Momoyama ware was Karatsu, influenced by Korean Yi ware. In e-Karatsu (“picture” Karatsu), freehand geometric patterns, grasses, and wisteria were painted in iron oxide on a whitish slip. Karatsu ware had several other styles, with different kinds of decoration. Bizen ware was at its best in the Momoyama period. Still made, it is a hard stoneware, basically brick red, but subject to irregular changes of colour resulting from alternating oxidation and reduction in the firing. It is unglazed except for glaze formed by ash or straw packed around the pots in the kiln or by falling ash.

C

3

The Edo Period and After

At the beginning of the Edo period, kaolin was discovered near Arita, in northern Kyushu, still a major pottery centre. This discovery enabled Japanese potters to make their own hard, pure white porcelain. One type, Imari ware (named after its export port), was so popular in 17th-century Europe that even the Chinese imitated it. Its brightly coloured designs were inspired by ornate lacquer work, screens, and textiles. By the late Edo period (1800-1867) Imari ware had declined. Kakiemon (persimmon) porcelain, made in Arita, was a far more refined, classically shaped ware, even when its motifs were similar to Imari ware. Both wares used overglaze enamels. Nabeshima ware, also of high quality and similar to silk textiles in its designs, was reserved for members of that family and their friends; only in the Meiji era (1868-1912) was it sold commercially and imitated. The designs were first drawn on thin tissue, and then in underglaze blue lines; the enamel colours were added and heat fused after the glaze firing. In eastern Japan in the Edo period, Kutani was the porcelain centre. Kutani vessels were greyish because of impurities in the clay, and their designs were bolder than those of Arita and Imari wares. Kyoto, formerly a centre for enamelled pottery, became famous for its porcelain in the 19th century. In the Edo period, some 10,000 kilns were active in Japan. See also Porcelain: Oriental Porcelain

The utilitarian works of folk potters, evaluated by contemporary taste, are as admired and respected as the export items of earlier centuries. New influences from Europe came with the Meiji pottery, but native folk traditions were still appreciated within the country. Potters at the old centres remain active at the start of the 21st century, working in the same styles as their ancestors, with the same local clays. Japan's most famous 20th-century potter is Shoji Hamada, important not only for his pottery but also as a forceful figure in the revival of folkcraft. Hamada favoured iron and ash glazes on stoneware, producing shades of olive green, grey, brown, and black, and did not sign his pots (although he signed their wooden containers). In 1955 the Japanese government declared Hamada a Living National Treasure.

IV

Pre-Columbian Americas

Ancient American pottery—used not only for domestic puposes but also in ritual and funerary contexts—developed distinctive, sophisticated shapes and decorative styles, wholly unrelated to those of the Old World and executed to a high artistic level. Pots were built by coiling, hand modelling, and moulding; the potter's wheel was unknown. Painted decoration was in clay slips coloured with vegetable and mineral pigments.

A

South America

Pottery dating from about 3200 bc has been found at Ecuadorian sites, but the foremost styles appeared in Peru. There, the Chavín style (fl. 800-400 bc), with its jaguar motifs, was succeeded in the Classic period (1st millennium ad) by one of the finest pre-Columbian potteries, that of the Mochica culture of the north coast. Moulded buff-coloured vases were painted in red with vivid narrative scenes; portraitlike jars were modelled in relief with great subtlety. Both had the characteristic Peruvian stirrup spout, a hollow handle with a central vertical spout. To the south the Nazca culture produced double-spouted polychrome jars with complex stylized animal motifs. The later Tiahuanacu and Inca polychrome styles were well crafted but were less dazzling.