Information

Presentation

Sections:
I. The origins and the
development of Imari
porcelain
II Porcelain for the
aristocracy and the
european courts
III Imari masterpieces for
the european market
IV European ceramics
imitate the Imari originals

List of works

Photo selection
of works
in exhibition

Photos of
exhibition room

Making
porcelain
in Arita

Jiki. Japanese porcelain between
East and West. 1610-1760
26 June - 7 November

I - The origins and the development of Imari porcelain

China gave birth and developed one of the most technologically advanced forms of ceramic, white, hard-bodied porcelain. The porcelain making technique was then introduced into the Korean Peninsula. Not possessing this technique, up until the end of the 16th century Japan imported porcelains from China. In 1592 to 1598, when Japan sent troops into the Korean Peninsula the Nabeshima forces, led by the lord of the Saga domain in Kyushu, returned back to Kyushu with Korean potters in tow. In the 1610s, these potters succeeded to produce the very first Japanese porcelain in the Arita region of Hizen Province. Hizen porcelain was shipped from the nearby port of Imari to the entire Japanese archipelago, and for this reason Hizen porcelain came to be commonly known as ‘Imari’.
Although the Korean potters who helped initiated Hizen porcelain production were only familiar with white undecorated porcelain that was produced in their home country, Japanese domestic demand was for Chinese blue and white wares made in Jingdezhen, and for this reason Hizen kilns from the very beginning fired porcelains with underglaze cobalt-blue designs.
In 1644, civil unrest in China reduced the level of export of Chinese porcelain drastically. Seizing advantage of this trade opportunity, Hizen wares soon dominated the Japanese porcelain market, and eventually started to be exported to Southeast Asia from 1647 onwards. As a result of expanded production, Hizen porcelain underwent a significant shift in production around the 1650s, ostensibly switching from Korean influenced methods to Chinese-based techniques.
The most significant technological change in this period was the introduction of overglaze polychrome enameling techniques from China around 1647, making it possible to produce beautifully coloured porcelains. Starting in the 1650s, Nabeshima ware replaced Chinese porcelain as annual tributary gifts to the Shogun from the Nabeshima family. Nabeshima porcelain fired from 1690s to 1720s is thought to represent the pinnacle of Japanese porcelain refinement, and was made largely in response to the tastes of Shogun.