Pottery

B

Korea

Chinese pottery and porcelain always exerted a strong influence in Korea, but Korean potters introduced subtle variations on Chinese models. Gray stoneware, found in tombs, was typical of the Silla dynasty (4th to 10th century ad ). Song-influenced celadons characterize pottery of the Koryŏ (Goryeo) dynasty (918-1392). Later work, although less refined, was admired for its straightforward dignity. Koreans, in turn, introduced Korean and Chinese pottery into Japan.

C

Japan

The earliest ceramics of Neolithic Japan, those from the Jōmon period (10,000?-300? bc), were shaped by hand, usually by the coil method. Decorated with impressions of cords and mats, they were baked in an open fire at a low temperature. Colors were reddish or ranged from gray to black. Some cult figures and utilitarian vessels were highly burnished or covered with a red iron oxide. The pottery of the Yayoi culture (300? bc-ad 250?), made by a Mongol people who came from Korea to Kyūshū, has been found throughout Japan. The Yayoi used the wheel for their yellow and light brown earthenware, the smooth surface of which was at times painted bright red.

Two basic kiln types—both still in use—were employed in Japan by this time. The bank, or climbing, kiln, of Korean origin, is built into the slope of a mountain, with as many as 20 chambers; firing can take up to two weeks. In the updraft, or bottle, kiln, a wood fire at the mouth of a covered trench fires the pots, which are in a circular-walled chamber at the end of the fire trench; the top is covered except for a hole to let the smoke escape.

From the later Kofun, or Tumulus (Grave Mound), period (about ad 300 to 552), pottery was found in the enormous tombs of the Japanese emperors. Called Haji ware, it resembled Yayoi pottery. More truly unique were the haniwa, delightful unglazed reddish earthenware figures that surrounded the tombs—houses, boats, animals, women, hunters, musicians, and warriors. Although the haniwa lack the grandeur of the Qin emperor's army, they compensate for it with their rustic vitality. Sué was another pottery of this period, a gray stoneware fired in a climbing kiln and decorated with a natural ash glaze (formed during the firing as ash from the wood fuel fell on the pots). Originating in Korea, the natural ash glaze became characteristic of later Japanese wares made at Tamba, Tokoname, Bizen, and Shigaraki. Jars, bottles, dishes, and cups were made, some with sculpted figures. Sué ware continued to be made in the Asuka period (552-710), when Chinese cultural and religious influences were just beginning.

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1

Nara Through 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-color, green and white; a few had three of these colors on rough grayish bodies. The glaze patterns were streaks and spots, not quite as refined as Tang ceramics. Most examples of this work are preserved at the Shōsōin 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 centered 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.

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2

Muromachi and Momoyama Periods

Although the Ashikaga shoguns of the Muromachi period (1338-1573) 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 tea cult spread to the military and merchant classes in the Momoyama period (1573-1603). Its stoneware and porcelain implements 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, somber lead glazes that sometimes drip downward in globs. 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 Chosŏn (Joseon) ware. In e-Karatsu, or 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 color resulting from alternating oxidation and reduction in the firing. It is unglazed except for glaze formed by falling ash or by ash or straw packed around the pots in the kiln.

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3

The Edo Period and After

At the beginning of the Edo period, kaolin was discovered near Arita, in northern Kyūshū, which is still a major pottery center. This discovery enabled Japanese potters to make their own hard, pure white porcelain. One type, Imari ware (named for its port of export), was so popular in 17th-century Europe that even the Chinese imitated it. Its bright-colored designs were inspired by ornate lacquerwork, screens, and textiles. By the late Edo period (1800-1867) Imari ware 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 colors were added and heat-fused after the glaze firing. In eastern Japan in the Edo period, Kutani was the porcelain center. Kutani vessels were grayish in color because of impurities in the clay, and their designs were bolder than those of Arita and Imari wares. Kyōto, formerly a center for enameled pottery, became famous for its porcelain in the 19th century. In the Edo period, some 10,000 kilns were active in Japan.

Contemporary taste esteems the utilitarian works of folk potters as highly 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 centers remain active in the 20th century, working in the same styles as their ancestors, with the same local clays. Japan's most famous 20th-century potter is Hamada Shoji, important not only for his pottery but also as a forceful figure in the revival of folkcraft. Hamada favored iron and ash glazes on stoneware, producing shades of olive green, gray, brown, and black, and did not sign his pots (although he signed their wooden containers). In 1955 the Japanese government declared Hamada an Intangible Treasure of the country.

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