Setoguro and Kizeto Introduction
Kizeto
The Mino Ceramic Art Museum of the Momoyama Period (1573-1600) is a place that, even from today’s perspective, has developed in a truly spectacular and diverse manner. When we examine the trajectory of this development, we learn that techniques and styles did not improve incrementally, but rather rose rapidly and changed dramatically when some external stimulus was added. The Mino ceramic industry from the Tensho to the Bunroku and Keicho periods can be said to have been in just such a period, and as if in response to the end of the Warring States period from the Eiroku to Tensho periods, a new ceramic style based on traditional techniques and connected with the demand of the apologetic tea world gradually became active around the Eiroku period. This new style of pottery gradually flourished from the late Tensho period through the Bunroku and Keicho periods. Among the representative Mino ceramics of Shino, Kizeto, Setoguro, and Oribe, Kizeto and Setoguro were ceramics with a new sensibility, which flourished on the traditional techniques of the Seto and Mino pottery industries since the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.
Shino, with its white glaze and dark, lightly reddish burnt surface, was a unique type of pottery born of the rich Japanese climate, but Kizeto, with its moist glaze, lightly carved patterns, and slightly greenish gauze, has a warm Japanese flavor. While Shino was a new technology that emerged in the late Muromachi period (1333-1573), Kizeto glaze was derived from the Kozeto ash glaze that had existed since the Kamakura period (1185-1333), which was gradually improved to produce the so-called aburai-te Kizeto of the Momoyama period (1573-1600). In Mino, since the Muromachi period (1333-1573), many tea bowls and plates of various sizes had been produced in imitation of wheel-thrown Chinese celadon with a transparent glaze similar to the Kosedo ash glaze, but later, ash glazed wares were produced on top of a decorative oni-plate, and further improvements were made on these glazes. It is estimated that the Kiseto ware with a unique texture of fried skin was completed in kilns such as those under the Oyayama kiln from the end of Tensho to around the time of Bunroku.
The heyday of Kizeto unique to the Momoyama period is thought to have been from the Tensho period (1573-92) to the early Keicho period (1596-1615), and like Shino and Setoguro, it was produced in anagama kilns. The works that pioneered Momoyama Kizeto are also thought to have been produced in the late Muromachi period, from the Tenmon period (1532-55) to the Eiroku period (1558-70). It is believed to have been made in the late Muromachi period, around the time of the tea master Hokumukai Douchen (1504-62). This tea bowl is wheel-thrown and rounded at the waist, and is a mixture of a round bowl and a half-tube bowl. It is a Ki-Seto bowl with an ash glaze over an oniita (a type of clay produced in the Mino region) applied to the base, and since there is a Tenmoku bowl with the same glaze tone that has also been handed down, it is thought that Ki-Seto with this type of glaze tone was actively fired at one time.
Unlike the so-called “fried Ki-Seto” wares that became popular after the end of the Tensho period (1522-91), this type of Ki-Seto tea bowl has a well-melted, slightly translucent yellow glaze over the entire surface, and this type of glaze is known to have been widely used. It is assumed that this type of glaze was produced during the Tensho period, followed by the production of abura-age ware.
Koseto teacups are very rare in Koseto, but this is a representative masterpiece that was unusually produced as a teacup. This is a rare example of a masterpiece that was created as a tea bowl. After being formed on the potter’s wheel, a spatula was added to the body to create a clear Momoyama-style semi-tubular shape, and it is thought to have been made in the late Tensho period. It is probably made in the latter part of the Tensho period. It is similar to Setoguro and Shino wares in that it has a brownish brown tame finish, but because the glaze is thin, the spatula marks on the body can be seen as they are. Perhaps because the firing temperature was slightly low, the thick, thin glaze was fired to a moist texture, with some burn marks and no so-called “fried” handles, making this a rare example of Momoyama Koseto ware.
The “Koseto Pearl Incense Bowl” in the collection of the Nezu Museum is also a small but representative example of Koseto tea ceremony utensils. It has a truly elegant jewel shape, and the yellow glaze applied over the entire surface has a moist texture that is reminiscent of deep-fried tofu, making it a particularly rich piece among the many Momoyama tea ceramics. It is thought that this type of Kizeto became popular from the end of the Tensho period to the first half of the Bunroku and Keicho periods. The main body of the Momoyama Koseto ware is known to have been made in the same year.
The main part of Momoyama Kizeto was not pure tea ceremony utensils as described above, but high-end tableware of the time, such as various mukozuke (tea bowls) and pots. Of course, since the late Muromachi period (1333-1573), Mino had mass-produced a great deal of tableware such as large and small dishes imitating celadon and white porcelain of the Yuan and Ming dynasties imported from China, but with these as the base, fine tableware with a unique Momoyama style was produced. One of the representative examples is “Kizeto Tea Bowl Named Namba”. Although this bowl is now used as a tea bowl, it was originally designed as a small bowl or mukozuke, and has a low base and a semi-tubular shape, but the body is covered with a so-called “body cord” and an arabesque pattern is carved on it. Over the pattern, a copper-red green glaze, called “gallantry of Koseto,” is applied, and the glaze has a soft, moist texture that is suitable for an aburai-te (fried hand). The yellow glaze of Seto and Mino, which began in Kosedo, became refined and tasteful in Momoyama.
Among Koseto tableware, the “Koseto iris-patterned glazed flower bowl” is famous as a large work. It is said to be the reason for the term “iris-te Koseto” (iris-te Koseto). It is a gongbachi style bowl with a sword-shaped mouth and glazed flower-shaped rim, and this type of bowl was modeled after the Ming Dynasty lacquerware and kimono trays. However, qualitatively, the work seen here is completely Japanese in style, with no hint of a Chinese flavor. The prospect is painted with a picture of iris in powerful line engraving, and the leaves are decorated with dark chalcanthite, creating an outstanding decorative effect.
The “Koseto Mukozuke with chrysanthemum string lid” is also particularly outstanding among the Koseto tableware that has been handed down from generation to generation. Koseto tableware is generally formed very thinly, and although this “Mukozuke with chrysanthemum cord lid” is also a thin piece, its rounded shape is unique to the Momoyama period. Moreover, the expression of the chrysanthemum and Dingko patterns carved on the underside of the lid has a deep tea flavor, suggesting that the craftsmen of Momoyama were looking for a different kind of beauty in Koseto from that of Shino and Oribe.
This kind of moist texture is called abura-age hand. Kizeto, also known as Shobu-te, was only produced in large half-ground kilns, but only for a short period of time. In the Keicho era (1596-1598), when most of the kilns in Mino were converted to continuous climbing kilns, good-quality pieces were no longer fired, and the climbing kilns were more suitable for this purpose. Later, it was changed to yellow glazed ware called “Omamaiyaki” or “E-Seto”.
Hakuan Tea Bowl
One of the most unique Ki-Seto type works is the so-called Hakuan Tea Bowl. Hakuan tea bowls are said to have gotten their name from the fact that they were once owned by Sotani Hakuan, a medical official of the Shogunate. Although it is not yet known where in the Seto area the bowl was made, it is thought that it was made from the Keicho period to the Genna and Kan’ei periods, judging from the clay taste and glaze tone. The characteristic of Hakuan handles is that they are different from Seto-style wares in general, and are similar to Karatsu-style wares made on the potter’s wheel, and their appearance is also similar to Okukoryo and Koryo teacups. Therefore, in recent years, some people believe that these bowls are not of the Seto or Mino series, but rather from Karatsu or the Korean peninsula. In the Keicho era, a Karatsu-style climbing kiln was built in the former residence of Kusjiri, and in Karatsu, a large number of pottery with patterns that seem to have been copied from Shino were produced. Therefore, it can be inferred that the exchange between Mino and Karatsu was deeper than what is reported in geographical records, and it is not surprising that at one time, special Karatsu-style ware was produced in Mino. I have also speculated that the work may have been produced in the Kyo Seto style, but this is a hypothesis based on the fact that there is a Kyo Seto potter who is known as Hakuan. There is a note written by Enshu Kobori on the cover of the box of Hakuan Tea Bowl, which indicates that it was fired in Seto or Mino kilns, and it must be highly credible because Enshu wrote “Seto Hakuan” on the cover of the box, which is not too far from the period when Hakuan Tea Bowl was produced.
The feature of Hakuan Tea Bowl is that it is wheel-thrown in a seemingly straightforward bowl shape, but the overall style is quite intentional. The consciously made crack on the body and the sea squirt glaze applied from the crack is not natural, but a common artifact of the Hakuan series. The base of each piece is carved into a single thin base, and the area around the base is covered with a thick yellow glaze, which melts well and is similar to the yellow Seto glaze used on sake cups. There are more than a dozen of these bowls that have been handed down today, and we have seen several other plain bowls of similar design that are not glazed with a single character crack or sea squirt glaze. However, most of them have a common promise, so they must have been specially ordered at a certain time.
Setoguro
Setoguro, like Kizeto, did not appear suddenly in the Momoyama Period, but rather, it was based on the traditional techniques that had been in place since the Muromachi Period. As already mentioned, since the Muromachi period, many tenmoku tea bowls were fired in Mino as in Seto. When the tenmoku tea bowls were fired, the bowls were drawn out for so-called “color viewing” in order to examine the melting state of the glaze. Then the melted glaze must have suddenly come into contact with the cold outside air, and a black glaze skin must have formed. This is the so-called Seto black glaze. Therefore, if we examine in detail the shards that have been discarded around the kilns of Mino since the Muromachi period, we are sure to find the black drawer of the Tenmoku tea bowl.
However, it was not until the so-called Seto black tea bowls were fired with a focus on such black glaze. It seems that it was around the Eiroku period at the end of the Muromachi period (1333-1573). Once I visited Mino and saw shards excavated from a kiln site called Nigane in Onada. The Setoguro style tea bowls excavated from there had a rounded waist, and it is now estimated that this kiln was a smoking kiln at the end of the Muromachi period, from the astronomical period to the Eiroku period.
Setoguro means “black tea bowl” in Seto, but later came to be called Setoguro. The characteristic of Seto-kuro is its semi-short or cylindrical shape, and although early pieces have a rounded waist as seen in the pieces excavated from the Nigane Kiln in Onada, it is thought that it was not until the Tensho period (1573-92) that it was completed with a clear, firm waist, and is therefore commonly called “Tensho kuro” (Seto black). The iron glaze is applied, but the shape is not the same as that of the vase. It is iron-glazed, but its jet-black glaze tone is not the same as that of the original. This is the reason why it is also called “drawer black”.
Seto black tea bowls started in Onada, Mino, then spread to Asama, and finally to Oyaya, and the most outstanding works were fired at the Oyaya kiln, and the famous tea bowls with the inscriptions “Obaraki,” “Obarame,” and “Winter Night” seem to have been fired during the Tensho period.
Although there are some modifications, such as adding a spatula to the body after wheel-thrown molding and slightly changing the shape of the mouth, many of them have a more elegant appearance than Shino or Oribe, retaining the overall appearance of wheel-thrown molding. Another characteristic of Setoguro is that the height of the base, which is almost always carved out, is made extremely low. The clay used is a slightly iron-enriched clay.
Seto-kuro is an extension of the traditional iron glaze of Kosedo, but the technique of drawing black to obtain a jet-black glaze was newly developed after the Tensho period (1592-1515), and the shape gradually changed to a more elaborate style after the Tensho period from Bunroku to Keicho (1596-1615), which is commonly referred to as “Oribe black. Especially during the Keicho period, the shape of the potter’s shoes became more distorted, and the glaze technique also began to change, with feldspar glaze applied twice on top of black glaze to give a different glaze color. In the next stage, the black glaze was scraped off to show stripes or simple pictorial designs in line engraving, or the black glaze was removed on one or both sides and pictorial designs were painted with iron pigments on the removed base. Then, a white feldspar glaze was applied on top of it, and a tea bowl with decorative pictorial designs, generally known as “black Oribe”, was produced. Many of them are quite technical, not only by applying different glazes, but also by scraping off the black glaze to show the design. It seems that they were mass-produced from the middle of the Keicho period to around the Genna period, and many of them have survived.
