Tenmoku, celadon, painted Koryo, red glaze, underglaze blue, old underglaze blue, gosuzu, Shozui, An Fu tie-dye, Benian Nan
When did the tea ceremony first come from mainland China? According to the official history of Japan, the first mention of tea was made in the beginning of the Heian period (794-1185), when Eichu, a priest of Bonshakuji Temple in Omi, offered tea to Emperor Saga. In addition, Chinese poems that were popular among the court nobles at that time often mention the taste of tea, suggesting that tea was already very popular among the nobles and priests in the early Heian period.
It is also easy to imagine that a variety of Tang tea utensils were brought along with the tea ceremony. Tea bowls, in particular, are the most closely related and important of all, and it is only natural that at that time, in Japan, it was impossible to produce beautiful bowls that could be used for this purpose. Therefore, it is only natural that the tea bowls of the region must have been prized. According to the “Tea Sutra” by Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty, the tea ceremony at that time was to powder dancha and boil it in boiling water while stirring it, and the color of the tea water was red. Therefore, the color of the tea was determined by the color of the tea bowl, and for this reason, celadon bowls made by the Yuezhu kiln were considered the best, while white porcelain bowls made by the Torishu kiln were known throughout the world and referred to as “Yue” bowls. The fact that many such celadon and white porcelain tea bowls were produced in Japan in the future can be inferred from the fact that records of celadon and white porcelain tea bowls often appear in the literature of the time, and as examples, a white porcelain bowl thought to be from the Jyashu kiln was excavated near Horyuji Temple, while another white porcelain bowl fragment, also from the Otsu-kyo site in Shiga Prefecture, was found in a small area. It is also clear that the Sanage Kiln in Tsuge, Changji, imitated the bowls and bowls of the Yeoshu Kiln. However, the term “tea bowl” later came to be used as a substitute for Chinese celadon and white porcelain, and characters such as “blue chakeng,” “white chakeng jar,” “chakeng inkstone,” and “chakeng pillow” are found in the ancient records. This is thought to be the reason why the term became an idiomatic term for ceramics. The term continued to be used until the Muromachi period (1333-1573), and in the “Kuntai Kangenjochoki”, there are entries for “chakkomono” and “tsuchinomono”, the former referring to celadon and white porcelain, and the latter describing various types of tenmoku.
With the decline of the Tang Dynasty in China, the Tang style of tea died out, and from the Five Dynasties to the Sung Dynasty, the Sung style of tea emerged. In Japan, the Tang-style tea was gradually forgotten in the mid-Heian period, and tea was mainly used for medicinal purposes or for special ceremonies at the imperial court. The old method of Tang tea was to steam the tea leaves, pound them in a mortar and pestle, and then pound them in a mold to make dumpling tea, and put the powder into boiling water to make the red boiled tea. The tea leaves are then pressed and hardened until they are at the extreme of dryness and purity, the color of dried bamboo leaves, or white with a faint bluish tinge. The tea is then put in a bowl and poured over with boiling water, and while adding more hot water, it is stirred vigorously with a tea whisk to make it foam. In this method, the color of the tea is white and frothy all over. In order to accentuate the white color of the tea, traditional celadon or white porcelain would not be suitable. A new black tea bowl was requested, and the first of these was the Fujian jianzan (Jian ware tea bowl), which became very popular and widely used.
In the “Tea Record” written by Cai Xiangyang in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1279), he wrote, “The color of tea is white, so a black tea bowl is good. The teacups now being made in Jian’an are dark blue-black, with a pattern of rabbit hairs, and the base material is rather thick. It is very hot to heat and difficult to cool. This is the most important thing for drinking tea. Celadon or white porcelain cups are not used by those who try to compete in the tea ceremony. In the “Daguan Tea Treatise” written by Emperor Huizong at the end of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1279), he wrote, “The color of Jian-Chan is difficult to distinguish from the color of other teacups, and its blue-black color and long rabbit-hair pattern are very elegant. There are countless poems and writings in praise of Jian Chan throughout the Song Dynasty.
This new style of tea finally took root in the monastic life of the Zen monasteries in the late Song Dynasty. It was Zen master Eisai, famous for his “Tea Cures” book, who brought this new style of tea back to Japan. The new tea varieties brought by Eisai gradually proliferated and sprouted in various parts of Japan. The Zen forest tea ceremony spread to the monasteries of the Kegon and Ritsu sects, and eventually became a favorite of the samurai aristocracy, and eventually spread to the private sector as well. In addition, the newly opened Japan-Song trade and the frequent comings and goings of Zen monks from Japan and China resulted in a vast number of excellent works of art from this region. The tea gatherings that were popular from the Nanbokucho (Northern and Southern Dynasties) to the Muromachi period (1333-1573) were composed of art imported from the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, or so-called karamono (Chinese artifacts). The tea party was a lively and boisterous affair, with a lavish display of Chinese paintings and masterpieces. However, as the Muromachi period progressed, this uncritical attitude finally changed during the so-called Kitayama period of Yoshimitsu, and by Yoshimasa’s Higashiyama period, the style had settled into the world of karamono sukiyaki, a style that is neatly classified and criticized, as seen in the “Kundai Kanjo Choki” (The Record of the Right and Left of Kimidai). In other words, here, each of the famous wares gained its own place, and a new aesthetic value was demonstrated, resulting in the realization of a truly noble tea ceremony using karamono, which had never been seen before. A new style of tea ceremony called Wabi-Suyori was born in the late Muromachi period (1336-1573), and the Higashiyama period (1333-1573) can be said to be the period when the embryonic foundation for this style was laid.
Among the Chinese ceramics and porcelain that were prized as rare and expensive imported items at these tea ceremonies, tea bowls include various tenmoku tea bowls and celadon tea bowls, which are described below, as well as a brief description of tea bowls introduced after the Yuan and Ming periods.
Tianmu
Jian ware
The name “Tianmu”, which is now widely used in the world, was originally a Japanese name for tea bowls (called “jianzan”) made in the Jian kilns in Fujian during the Song dynasty (960-1279) and their equivalents. The name “Tianmu” originated from Tianmu Mountain, located on the border of Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. Tianmu Mountain is home to several famous Zen temples, including Zengyuan Temple, and is also famous for its tea ceremony. However, this term gradually came to be understood in a broader sense, and the term “tenmoku” was also used for other ceramics similar to jianyosan and those imitating it in our Seto kiln, and eventually it became a general term for black-brown glazed ceramics.
The Jian kiln that fired Jian Chan was a rare kiln that fired only iron-glazed tea cups, and its kiln site is known to have been located near Shuijie County (originally Shuijie Town, Jianjeung County) in northern Fujian Province, which is now part of Jianyang District. In 1954, a new survey was conducted by Song Bo Yin and his colleagues in China, and the results were reported in the third period of the “Cultural Heritage Survey” in 1955. The first thing that I would like to do is to look at the history of the Kiln and the history of the people who made it. At another kiln site, about 20 pieces of bowls with inscriptions such as “Shaoxing 12…” (1142 AD) were found, and at another kiln site, about 20 pieces of bowls with inscriptions such as “Jinqiong” and “Gonggang” on the back of the stand were found. In addition to the above, there have been no other significant discoveries that have overturned the conventional theories.
As for Susan, there are many excellent examples of Susan in Japan, and many of them are rare in the world. The abundance of data on Susan is unparalleled in the world and has been observed in detail for a long time. The general characteristics of Jian-Chan are as follows: the clay of the clay is called “iron-bearing clay,” which contains a large amount of iron, and the color of the exposed body after firing ranges from dark brown to blackish-black and grayish-black. The clay is of various types, but the special and excellent yohhen, oil droplet, and hare’s feet pottery have a grayish-black or slightly golden coloring, and the kiln technique is also more sophisticated.
The glaze also has a high iron content and, depending on the firing kiln, shows a variety of colors such as dark blue-black, blue-black, blackish brown, reddish brown, and yellowish brown, as well as tends to change in the kiln. In addition, the thick glaze tends to flow down easily, which affects the glaze tone in many cases. Rabbit pattern on Jian Chan is caused by the release of iron in excess and by the flow of the glaze.
The basic shape of Jian-Chan is also fixed. First of all, four oil drops of Yohantenmoku and two rabbit-hair cups in this volume are all typical shapes of Jian-Chan. They are slightly deep, with a so-called “twisted back” mouth and a small, low “snake’s-eye” base. Two types of cups, one large and one small, were excavated from the kiln site. There is also a type with a trumpet-shaped mouth rim and an edge-bent shape, such as the Yushitatemoku ware in the Seikado collection. The kiln site has yielded quite a large number of these wares, which can be classified into two types, large and small. Recently, a shallow type of this type of cup with an end-bent cup-shaped cup was excavated from a Northern Song tomb in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
In Japan, the natural colors are classified according to their glaze tone, i.e., yangjian, oil drop, heme (rabbit cup), wusan, ash-colored, and huangtianmu, etc. Among them, yangjian, oil drop, and heme are the three most important ones representing jianzan.
Yohin Tengmoku
Yohhen is the most special and rare type of Jian Chan ware, and has been ranked first among the many types of “Tengmu” ware since ancient times. According to the “Record of the Guan Yi Jian Jian” (Tohoku University), “Yoh Hen” is one of the best examples of “Jian Chan” in the world,
In the “Kundai Kanjochochoki” (Tohoku University Book), it is written, “Yohhen is one of the best things in the sake brewery and is not found in the world, and there are also various kinds of colorful and beautiful medicines.
In the same book in the “Gunsho Ruishu” collection,
In the same book, “Gunsho Ruishu”, there are many kinds of medicines and they are called “Yohhen yonai no nouchi no mujo yari tenkaranu mono no mono ni tesoro” (Ippon yaku yonoken chan ni kaha ni kaha ni kaha).
Also, in the Tokugawa version owned by Tokyo National Museum,
Yohken kenzan name is the second most famous thing in the world, and the color of the medicine is leopard skin, which is the best in kenzan
The name of this book is “Yohhen” and “Susan”. Yohhen” is sometimes written as “Yo-hen,” but it is probably a term for “sun, moon, star and dragon,” both of which shine brightly on celestial bodies. On the inside of the tea bowl, which is covered with a thick jet-black glaze, a group of very minute metallic crystals appear in whitish spots, and beautiful iridescent iridescence appears around the spots in a luan-like pattern. This was not an artifact of artifice, but a natural appearance that occurred in the kiln. In other words, yohen is also a form of kiln alteration.
Strictly speaking, there are only four pieces in total: three national treasures in the collections of Seikado, the Fujita Museum of Art, and Ryukoin, and one piece (an important cultural property) in the collection of the former Kaga Maeda family. Furthermore, other than these four pieces in Japan, there are no other pieces like them in China, where they are originally from, or in any of the many collections in Europe and the United States. Observing these pieces, I was struck by the exquisiteness of the molding of the rokuro (china wheel), and the extremely high quality of the overall shape, even though there are slight differences in the size and the yōhen phenomenon. The clay used for the clay is of extremely high quality, carefully selected and grayish-black, and the glaze is a common jet-black or dark blue-black with a strong and beautiful luster, and is thickly applied. The crystals floating on the glaze surface, however few in number, show the same mottled appearance, and the yōhen tone is almost the same. However, only the Seikado’s Inaba-tenmoku has a particularly brilliant iridescence, making it a particularly enchanting scene. The piece in the former Maeda family collection is also unusual in that it has kiln-alteration phenomena mixed in with oil drops.
Yusudokitenmoku
The name “oil drop” seems to have been given in Japan, and can be found in various books such as “Zenrin Shoka,” “Katsuragawa Jizo Ki,” and “Gedaku Shu,” as well as in the Muromachi period (1333-1573). In China, the characters for “dripping pearl” appear in the first Ming Dynasty book “Geko yoryon,” and a recent example of pottery shards excavated from a kiln site is named “silver star spots.
In the “Kuntai guan yanjiang zhang ji” (Tohoku University Book), there is a reference to a piece of pottery called “yinxingzhu,
In the “Kimidai kanjo choki” (Tohoku University book), there is an inscription that reads, “This is the second most valuable treasure, and it is also a piece of pottery that has been soaked in earth and has a light purple color.
Also, in the same book in the “Gunsho Ruishu” collection,
In the same book, the “Gunsho Ruishu” collection, there are 5,000 drops of oil, the second most valuable item in the world.
Also, in the Tokugawa version in the Tokyo National Museum collection,
Yohheni yoriha kataata itachi kore mo yaku nyosei
The Tokugawa version, owned by the Tokyo National Museum, has the same name as the oil drop. In other words, oil droplets are also black glazed ware with many small, almost circular, crystal spots floating in the black glaze. The oil droplet phenomenon is said to be caused by excess ferric oxide in the glaze floating on the surface of the glaze with bubbles in the glaze during the firing process, and eventually the bubbles break, after which crystals gather and form small round dots. The National Treasure Yuridokitate is a typical example of a beautiful bowl.
In addition, among the oil drop bowls, there are some that have beautiful silvery stripes of small round dots of crystals that form a rabbit pattern as the glaze flows down, and some that are fascinating because of the dots of crystals that flow down in a series of dots. In “Kimidai guanjian zhanji” (a book of Tohoku University), we read
Kenzan yuteki ni otoru hekarasu chikusuku kuroku shirokane no koto kikin ha shirite onashiraku yuteki kinoko toku hoshin no aru moho aru moho aru sanzenbikki
Also in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum (Tokugawa version),
The book is also in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum (Tokugawa version).
In fact, it is a kind of oil drop. In fact, it is a kind of oil drop.
There is another type of “oil drip cup” that is not from Jian ware but from Northern kiln. This is a beautiful bowl with reddish-brown crystals in a dark purple glaze, which shine silvery in the sunlight. The oil drop from the Ryuuko-in Temple is a well-known example of this type of bowl. Especially, the white surface around the base is covered with astringent glaze to hide the white surface, which indicates that the bowl was intended to imitate the Jian Chan style. In Japan, it has been widely believed that this piece was produced at the Taiku kiln in Shanxi, while in the West, it has been considered to be a type of Henan Tianmu. It is likely to be one of the porcelain kilns of the Zizhou kiln series scattered in Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi, but this is still unknown at this time.
Jasamoku Tengmoku
Jasme” is the Japanese name for this type of cup, while the Chinese name for this type of cup is “Hare Hao Chan”. Rabbit hairs are made of fine blue-green or yellowish-brown stripes on a dark blue-black or black-brown glaze, and they look like rabbit hairs. It is thought that small crystals of oil drops were originally floating on the surface of the glaze and flowed down. In “Yugaku Orai”, a book written around Oan in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the names of blue and yellow hare’s hare’s crest are mentioned. The Jasumetenmoku is very beautiful and shows a typical hare’s hare glaze tone and is also of high quality.
Bird’s-eye
As the name implies, this is a black bowl with a single lacquer-black color. In the “Kundaiguanjianjoki” (Sokubei Daigaku hon), it is described as follows
In the original meaning of the phrase, “In the way of Tau-san, the upper part is the same as the lower part of the bowl, and the lower part is the same as the upper part of the bowl.
The “Gengyi” is the same as “Jianyosi”. The description here is not clear because it is written as if it were a different kiln.
There are so many kilns that fired black bowls that it is difficult to decide on one. However, some of the Jianzan ware often has a jet-black color with a wonderful glaze.
Jian ware
Ash-covered Tengmoku
This type is also called “haikatsugi” or “haikamuri,” and is also called “ash bearer,” “ash mong,” “ash crown,” “ash diving,” etc. These are Japanese names for this type. The Japanese name “haikatsugi” appears for the first time in the “Kundai kanjo choki”.
The same book is published by Tohoku University,
In the Tohoku University edition of the same book, it is written, “Tenmoku tsune no koto shite wa ikatsuki wo kami ni shite, kami ni yoroshiku basho ni kakari kara.
In another book, it is written, “Ashes are a rare object in this world, and there are many stories about it,” or “Tenmoku is a thing with a high value in this world.
As the name suggests, this piece shows an ash-covered glaze, and although it is of the Kenkikama type, it is a crude Tenmoku that differs from the Kenkikama work. In Yoshimasa’s time, it was regarded as less expensive than yohhen, aburidotsuki, and jasume, and was treated as less common, but later, with the rise of Wabicha, it gradually became more and more important. The “Taisho Meihiki Kan” (A Guide to Taisho Meihiki) mentions the use of ashikake in the tea ceremony. In “Taisho Meikikan”, there are about ten representative famous ash-covered bowls, and there are also many other ash-covered bowls that have been handed down from generation to generation. A small part of them may be Susan. Some of them may be jian cups, which are under-fired and have a whitish tone of glaze “melted-in-white”. Most of the others, however, were made in kilns other than the Jian kiln. The base is gray or grayish-white, ridged and hard, and the glaze is often double-glazed: a thin yellowish-white underglaze is applied first, and then a darker or blackish tenmoku glaze is applied haphazardly on top. During the kiln, the glaze often modulates, causing some parts of the glazed surface to become blackened, as if covered with ashes, and metallic crystals to float, forming a luster-like appearance that is sometimes referred to as gold or silver, and sometimes these crystals are used to replace the body of the piece. In ash-covered wares, this kind of kiln-forming is especially prized. The overall shape is not as well formed as that of Susan. In particular, the base of the cup is not as serpentine as in Jianyan. The sharp and clear cutting of the edge of the base is a major characteristic of this piece.
Yellow Tenmoku
This type of pottery is also called “Tobi-temmoku,” which is also shown in this volume. Although some of Seto tenmoku of the Muromachi period (1333-1573) are made in the “Kensan” style, most of them are made in the same way as this ash-coated type. Therefore, Hidate and Seto Tenmoku are often confused and some tea books even claim that Hidate is made in Seto. The age of hahidate tenmoku is thought to be a little later, but it is still unclear where it was fired.
Jizhou ware
Tortoiseshell cup
Tortoiseshell cup cup made by Jizhou ware is the second most famous tea cup after Jianjun cup. Tortoiseshell is the skin of tortoiseshell, or tortoiseshell shell, and the glaze has a tortoiseshell-like appearance, hence the name “Tortoiseshell Susan”. The Jizhou kiln was located in Yonghe-ruan, Ji’an, Jiangxi Province, and was reported to have produced celadon and white porcelain as well as Tortoiseshell cup, white porcelain and ironware during the Song dynasty. In addition to tortoiseshell cups, white porcelain, and ironware, the research also revealed that pale blue and white porcelain with excellent engraved patterns had already been produced in the Tang Dynasty. In addition to various types of Tortoiseshell cups, the “Jizhou Ware” by Jiang Xuanbo shows that celadon in the style of the Yuezhou kilns of the Tang dynasty and the Longquan kilns of the Song dynasty, celadon with fine openings (called shatterware), white porcelain in the Ding ware style, iron painting in the Zizhou ware style, and underglaze blue ware were also produced. The kiln site at the Yonghe ruins has 22 kiln ridges, and the scale of pottery production was unexpectedly large. It is still unclear when the Jizhou kiln died out, but it is assumed that it gradually declined as the porcelain kilns of Jingdezhen became more powerful in the Ming dynasty.
Tortoiseshell cup probably came to Japan in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), probably after Jianzan. In the “Catalogue of the official objects of Butsunian” in the late Kamakura period (1185-1333), there are two pairs of cups and a pair of jars in addition to the names of Jianzan and Privy Purpudata. This indicates that the sake cup was used as a cup for gargling tea. In addition, there are some other signs such as “竃盞,” “建竃,” “驚盞,” “別山,” and so on in the old documents and calligraphy of the Muromachi period. I guess that Tortoiseshell Susan was called “Susan” in the beginning. This is now written in the “Kuntai Kangenjochoki” (a book of Tohoku University),
Tortoiseshell cup, earthenware of Tengmu, blackish brown, with a pattern of flowers and birds, 1,000 pieces
cup for sake cup also made of clay of the same color, with a light purple star and a light amber color, and with a few small stones on the outside, for a few generations.
And one more,
Susan cup, white clay, candy-colored, with a bird-and-flower shape and a thousand Hakari
Nohbekizen Douzen Tortoiseshell Susan is similar to Tortoiseshell Susan and is called “Tortoiseshell Susan” in Japanese.
The name of Tortoiseshell Susan is finally mentioned. The characters for “能” and “態” are the same kind of characters for “玳” and “態” for “玳”, respectively.
Tortoiseshell Susan is made by applying a darker blackish brown ground glaze and a yellowish white translucent candy glaze on a grayish-white ground to produce a variety of patterns, The ame glaze is a fine, fine, and delicate glaze. The ame glaze has a fine sea-green color and is similar to the ash glaze commonly referred to as straw white in Japan. In Jiang Xuanbo’s “Jizhou Kiln,” it is thought that bamboo ash was used, as there are many bamboo forests in the vicinity of Ji’an.
Tortoiseshell cups are made by applying flecks of yellowish-white ash glaze on a black glaze and melting the glaze moderately in the kiln to obtain a soft, hearth-like glaze. If the melting is too much, it will produce what is called tiger-skin mottling. The ash glaze can also be used to create a variety of painted patterns on a black background. Some of them have arabesques in the shape of a heart. The most remarkable feature of Tortoiseshell Susan, however, is the use of sengami molds. The simplest method is to place a stencil on the base, cover it with black glaze, remove the stencil, and fire. The blackened pattern on the warm and elegant translucent sea squirt glaze is also unique in its own way.
The sengami pattern shows a variety of variations, ranging from folded branches of flowers and grasses, scattered floral motifs, flowers and birds, phoenixes (luan), dragons, deer, butterfly insects, to auspicious characters. All of them express auspiciousness. Among the flowers, the plum blossom pattern, a symbol of spring, is most common, and the flying phoenix pattern is also noticeable. The three sides of the rhombus-shaped window frame are decorated with the four Chinese characters for “golden jade,” “long life,” “wealth,” and “happiness, longevity, and peace. These three characters are relatively numerous, and in recent years, they have been named Umehana-tenmoku, Ran-tenmoku, and Mono-tenmoku, and are highly prized in Japan.
Sengami work itself was originally widely popular in China, even as early as the Tang Dynasty, and is still handed down from generation to generation in various regions, with the Jiangnan region being particularly popular. It was the wisdom of the Jizhou potters of the Song dynasty that they applied this technique to pottery patterns, which, combined with their outstanding glaze techniques, further enhanced the reputation of Moth Skin Zhen.
Even more unique to this kiln is the so-called Mokuba Tenmoku, which utilizes real tree leaves. This is a new innovation in which one or several leaves are gouged into the black glaze and fired as is, a technique unique to this kiln. Recently, this method has been tried in Japan in various ways, including the method of simply pasting and firing certain leaves, the method of painting straw-white glaze on leaves and then pasting them, and the method of boiling leaves in a soda liquor to make a fine mesh of leaves with only veins, dipping them in straw-white glaze, pasting them, and firing. The method of glazing the leaves is also known as “kiba-tempura”. Although all of these methods can be considered “mokuba-tenmoku,” it is difficult to obtain a truly authentic piece, and one can never hope for anything as good as mokuba-tenmoku. In Jiang Xuanbo’s “Gizhou ware,” a part of the base is covered with a yellow glaze, and then a leaf with only the veins, which has been soaked in water and corroded, is applied on top of it. In any case, whether it is this Mokuba Tenmoku or the above-mentioned Sengami pattern, the subtle changes in color, from yellow, blue, green, brown, and purple, to a soft ame glaze on a warm, unique black glazed ground, in the style of sea squirt, are truly fascinating. As in the case of the Jianyao, the nail-polished ware shown in this volume is a selection of particularly outstanding masterpieces from those that have been handed down in Japan over the ages, and is a rare gem that can be found neither in China nor in Europe or America.
Celadon
Longquan leprosy
The fact that celadon porcelain from the Southern Song Dynasty was imported in greater numbers than expected during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) is proven by the countless quantities of celadon shards excavated from various sites of the time, including the coast of Zaimokuza, Kamakura, and Kitakyushu. It is also well known that most of them are celadon shards from the Ryusen kiln. In addition to these unearthed pieces, there are also many pieces of celadon ware that have been handed down from one generation to the next, and among these, the excellent works known as “incunctor celadon” occupy an important position. In the world of tea bowls, tenmoku was the most respected type of porcelain, and celadon tea bowls were given first prize for tenmoku. However, the extraordinary favoritism toward celadon porcelain did not mean that only tea bowls were specially neglected, and until the end of the Muromachi period, they were highly prized along with tenmoku. Among these celadon tea bowls, the first to be selected are the so-called “Kinuta celadon” of the Ryuusen kiln. The “Ma Huang Kizuna,” “Mangetsu,” and “Uryu” tea bowls can be said to be representative of this type.
Several prewar surveys of the Longquan kiln had already been conducted, and the general outline of the kiln was known, but in the New China, several more surveys have revealed more detailed facts. According to these studies, the Longquan kilns cover an extremely wide area, consisting of a group of 200 kiln sites in Longquan County, located in the southwestern part of Zhejiang Province near the Fujian Province border, and other counties such as Qingyuan, Yunhe, Suichang, Lishui, and Yongjia. The largest centers are the large kilns of Longquan County, Xikou, and Jincun, and the Jukou kilns of Qingyuan County, which were founded in the Five Dynasties and were known to have been influenced by the Yuezhou kilns. The most outstanding examples of Kinuta celadon, with which we are familiar, were produced at the kilns centering on this large kiln, Jincun. In addition, there are hollyhock bowls, i.e., bowls with five- or six-petal incisions on the sides of the mouth, so-called “incised bowls” that are thought to date from the Northern Song period, and it should be noted that the bowls of “Ma Huangzhi” are very similar to these. It was once thought that Ma Huangzhi might be from the official kilns of the Southern Song dynasty, but now it seems that it must be from the Longquan kilns of the Northern Song dynasty, or at least close to the Northern Song dynasty. The “shinogi” tea bowl of incised celadon with the inscription “full moon” is of the same type, but the same type can be found in pottery excavated from Jinchon during the peak of the Southern Song period.
According to the research report, “Northern Song Longquan ware has a clear glaze, pale blue with a faint grayish tinge. The form is old and rustic, and the ridges and angles are clear. The base of the bowl is flat and straight, and the outer base is unglazed. In contrast, the white-body celadon of the Longquan ware of the Southern Song dynasty is fine and dense, with a white base that is slightly tinged with blue. The floral decorations are of a different style. The glazing technique has made great progress since the Northern Song dynasty, and the glaze layer is thick and the colors are brilliant. The glaze colors include powder blue, plumzier blue, blue-brown, blue-gray, grayish yellow, crane skin yellow, honey dragon, sesame sauce, and light indigo. Among these, the powder blue and plumzomonas blue are the best, and the colors are brilliant and rich, just like beautiful jade and dragonflies. The color is brilliant and rich, just like beautiful jade dragon green,” says the author.
What is even more remarkable is the fact that several types of celadon shards with purple-lipped iron feet, which we had previously identified as wares from the Xikou kiln site in Longquan County as being from the Suburban Tan Guan kiln of the Southern Song dynasty, were unearthed. The Chinese call these pieces “black-fleshed celadon jars,” and they are exactly what we should call Gue ware.
This discovery raises an important question, since there is a recent need for a reexamination of Southern Song official kilns, such as the celadon wares with penetrations called kan-you (kan-you, kan-gama, kangu, kan-kawa, etc.) that frequently appear in Muromachi period records. In addition, there are many interesting issues to be reconsidered, such as which of the “Matsumoto Tea Bowl,” “Hiketoshi Tea Bowl,” “Yasui Tea Bowl,” “Zenko Tea Bowl,” or “Kunneiden Tea Bowl” is from the Ryusen kiln, which is the official kiln, and which of the celadon tea bowls currently in the collection are confirmed to be from the official kiln. There are many interesting issues that need to be reconsidered.
Juko celadon porcelain
This tea bowl is said to have been cherished by Murata Shuko, the founder of Wabicha, and is not a beautiful celadon like Kinuta-te, but a rough bowl with a pale grayish-yellow oxidized glaze, so-called Hishihote, and light comb and spatula lines called Neko-Kaki inside and out. It has been prized since Jukou as a celadon tea bowl that is very wabi-navy, and some of the best examples from this period are still in existence. According to the records, the following are some of the most famous bowls from this period,
Jukoh Tea Bowl, celadon porcelain, with a Chinese flower pattern within, and a hard-handled finish (“Merichouso”).
Shukoh tea bowl, made in a ken-te style, with a carved ground pattern, thin and shallow yellow in color (“Meikiroku”).
The name “Jukoh Tea Bowl” is said to be a persimmon-colored Chinese tea bowl with a “kanmyu” and a vertical stripe on the outside, which is also called “Kobukura” (“Chado Shodenshu”).
The tea bowl is said to have been owned by Shukoh, and it is actually a Kochu ware.
In the “Chagu Beibi Shu”, there is “Kochu Koku Mei Fuchi Ji Mamaku Huiro Kuro Ya”, and in the “Yamagami Souji Ki”, there is “Kouchi Chawan Kouchi Chawan”, and it seems that Kochu refers to the “Kouchi” type of tea bowls. In other words, coarse celadon bowls imported from the south are called kochu tea bowls, and jukko celadon bowls are included in this category.
In addition, many shards of what appear to be Zhuguang celadon porcelain as well as other celadon wares from the Southern Song period have been excavated from Kanzeonji Temple and Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture, Karatsu in Saga Prefecture, Kusadosho in Hiroshima Prefecture, the southern suburbs of Kyoto, and the coast of Kamakura, including some small dishes. It has recently been assumed that these pieces of zhuguang celadon were fired somewhere in Zhejiang Province other than Longquan during the Southern Song period. Recently, however, scholars from New China have conducted a detailed survey of ancient kiln sites in various parts of Fujian Province, and have discovered a large number of celadon wares of this type.
In addition to Tianmu, Fujian has a surprisingly large number of kilns that produced coarse celadon ware, and the kiln sites in Songxi County must be mentioned first as kilns that produced the same type of bowls as Zhuguang celadon ware. Songxi is located in northern Fujian near the border with Longquan, Zhejiang Province, and kiln sites here have yielded coarse celadon wares with the same cat-scratched pattern as Zhuguang celadon ware.
Moreover, this kiln is said to date from the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, and may be the source of the Zhuguang celadon. A piece of this kiln was exhibited in Japan a few years ago, and is thought to belong to this lineage. The “Cultural Relics” (9th edition, 1965) reported that similar kilns belonging to this lineage are scattered in Lienchiang, Fuqing, Quanzhou, Nan’an, Tong’an, Dampu, and other counties along the Fujian coast. They probably came to Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), and were exported in large quantities from the Quanzhou area as a type of general merchandise.
Celadon glazed doll handles
Celadon bowls with a doll imprinted on the inner surface, often roughly made as celadon and fired to a loquat color by an oxidizing flame. Most of them have a plump shape, so-called “bowl-shaped”, with a high stand and a thick body. The inner surface is decorated with auspicious characters, clouds, flowers, etc., in addition to dolls. On the exterior, except for a few with a band of thunderbolt patterns around the mouth rim, there are almost no other patterns. Examples of bowls with inlaid floral motifs on the inner surface have already been seen in the above-mentioned Zhuguang celadon and often in Yuan and Ming dynasty Longquan ware, but this is the main feature of doll’s-handled celadon. This type of celadon ware is also often found at the Longquan kilns of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but this type of ware is the main feature of doll-handled celadon ware.
In an old tea ceremony diary, Tsuda Sorosho’s tea ceremony diary mentions a meeting held by Ikeda Seihan on April 205, Eiroku 11, with the words, “Ningyo chawan nijie chabon chaditsuhou (two doll tea bowls). Since this date corresponds to the second year of the Ming Dynasty’s Ryukei era, there is no doubt that these teabowls came to Japan before that time. Later, around the Tensho period, it was frequently mentioned in tea ceremony records. One of the most famous examples is the Senke ningyote (formerly owned by the Konoike family), which was treasured by Sen Shoan. In addition to the Shoan’s ningyote, the Taisho Meikikan (Taisho Meikikan: A Guide to the Masterpieces of the Taisho Era) lists other masterpieces from the Koide family in Nagoya, the Matsuoka family in Kanazawa, the Murayama family in Osaka, the Umakoshi family in Tokyo, and elsewhere. As can be seen from the above, it is said that these dolls were highly prized until around the Taisho era (1912-1926), but not so much in recent years.
Painted Koryo
Giju Kiln
It is now common knowledge that the tea bowls called “E-Goryeo” were not actually made in Korea, but rather were white-glazed, black-flower patterned tea bowls fired at a kiln in the Zizhou kiln system in China. This misnomer is due to the confusion between Goryeo celadon with black floral motifs and those from the porcelain kilns of the Porcelain State kiln in the old days when knowledge was scarce. There was another case in which white porcelain from the Dehua kiln in Fujian was mistakenly called white Goryeo. In the “Taisho Meihiki Gan” (Taisho Meihiki Book of Masterpieces), painted Koryo is included in the category of Korean tea bowls, and there is no doubt that the porcelain made at the Giju kiln is Koryo. The name “E-Goryeo” has been persistently used to this day, and has become a widely accepted common name. The earliest mention of the name “E-Goryeo” is in the “Enshu Kurachou”, which describes a tea bowl with a box inscription by Enshu, but in fact it may have appeared earlier than that.
The Peking kiln is located in Pengcheng Town, Peking County, Hebei Province, and large-scale pottery production has continued from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the present day. The kiln site of the Song dynasty is located outside the town. The majority of the wares were so-called “painted goryeo” wares, which were made of gray or grayish-yellow rough porcelain with white veneers and black patterns painted in iron on them in a rough and simplified manner. Recent research has also uncovered large-scale kiln sites in Yeguo City, Hebei Province, spanning the Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties.
There are a wide variety of tea bowls with a black flower pattern fired in these kilns, but those that were once used by our tea masters were naturally limited. The outer surface is decorated with a seven-you pattern and the inner surface has a serpentine pattern. This plum bowl pattern, called the “plum bowl pattern,” was already a common pattern used in the Song dynasty (960-1279) porcelain kilns, but in the present case, it is not a pattern that dates back to the Song dynasty (960-1279), and from the serpentine pattern and the plain base, we can imagine that it is probably from the Yuan or Ming dynasty (1368-1911). However, the simple style of this piece, with its fresh mood amidst the roughness, may be Enshu’s favorite. In Kusama Wara’s “Chakki Meimono Zushu” (“Illustrated Collection of Tea Utensils and Meibutsu”), there is a line that reads
(omission) The teacups are probably all thin and flimsy, with a black outside and plain inside, like a snake’s eye, without any medicine, and appear to be Kasaneyaki. This type of teacup is rare.
The right side of the bowl is probably flat, and there are many teacups, but not many deep ones. In addition to the plum bowl teacups, the Taisho Meiki-kan also shows a deeper teacup with a black outer surface and an inner surface with a fishweed pattern and bagua pattern, but this is a rough bowl from an even later period.
The most unusual of the painted Koryo tea bowls is probably the Bajang cup with red painting added. There are tea bowls with bright reddish-green overglaze painting, called “Sung red glaze,” which are highly prized by the Shiju ware and Sung red glaze. All of them are recently excavated and are not generally employed for tea ceremony. However, this Susan Bajo cup, which came from the Konoike family, is a unique and extremely rare example of a tea bowl that was stored in a tea box as a tea bowl. It is not a clear Sung red-painted cup, but it is probably made in the Yuan or Ming Dynasty, judging from the shape and the use of both black and red flowers.
The name of “Bajo-can” has already been recorded as a kind of Tang-style tea cups in “Shimagaku-shu” in the first year of Bun’an era, “Chikkaku-shu” in Kyoroku era, and other documents of Muromachi era such as “On’nochishinsho” and “Unpo shikyoshu”. The sake cups were originally sake cups, but there are large ones made in the Yuan and Ming Dynasty that can be used for tea cups as well.
Yundang hand (underglaze blue and old red glaze)
Jingdezhen ware
The Jingdezhen kilns in Jiangxi, which had produced clear white and blue-and-white porcelain since the Tang and Song dynasties, perfected a new technique of underglaze blue porcelain in the Yuan dynasty, and in the early Ming dynasty, they made further advances in this field and also mastered the technique of overglaze overglaze painting, or red painting. This technique is said to have been introduced from the red glaze technique of the Gizhou kilns. The success of this underglaze blue and overglaze blue porcelain opened a new frontier for future trends in the world of ceramics, and the Jingdezhen kilns achieved unprecedented development, becoming the largest center of Chinese ceramic kilns.
Porcelain from the Jingdezhen kilns was naturally welcomed in the tea ceremony of the Muromachi period, when Chinese ceramics were revered. Jingdezhen was known as Raoju at that time, and Raojukeng and Rao porcelain, which frequently appear in Muromachi period documents, are nothing but porcelain from Jingdezhen. In addition, “Dingzhou,” “Dingzhou silver milk,” and “Ding ware” are now interpreted as white porcelain from the Wangding kiln in Jingdezhen, rather than referring to the Dingzhou kilns in Hebei.
Many of the “Sometsuke” and “Sometsuki” wares are also found here, and some of the wares simply referred to as Raojukeng or Rao porcelain probably also contained Sometsuke. It is likely that most of these were tea bowls, and it can be imagined that white porcelain and blue porcelain tea bowls were widely used at that time. However, it is very doubtful if they were used as tea bowls for drinking powdered tea, and they were probably called “Susan” or “Teacup”.
At that time, Tenmoku tea bowls were the most popular for tea drinking, so there was no room for them to be adopted as tea bowls. However, some of them appeared again as tea bowls later in the Edo period, after the new style of tea ceremony after Enshu Kobori was introduced. Undo-handled tea bowls are a prominent example of this.
The name “undo” comes from the design on the side of the bowl, which depicts a pavilion in a cloud atmosphere. A type of underglaze blue ware that is thought to be the mother of this Yundang hand is found in the coarse underglaze blue ware fired at the Jingdezhen private kilns in the early Ming dynasty (early 20th century) or even later than Xuande. These are often large jars and bottles rather than tea bowls, and rarely thin, elaborate bowls are also found. It is believed to have been produced at the Jingdezhen Ming dynasty (1436-1434), a period known as the “blank period,” but it is also believed to have spanned a much longer period of time.
What is most remarkable about this type of ware is its distinctive figure paintings. Many of them depict mounted warriors, such as those in “Sanguozhi Shixin,” commonly referred to as “sword-and-horsemen,” while others are rich in literati taste, such as qinqi (qipu) paintings and calligraphy and floyances of literati masters to the mountains, and a few of them feature Taoist deities, such as Xiwangmu and Chao Sheng of the Qunxian Dynasty. All of them show strong brush strokes with a wild charm. Almost without exception, one characteristic can be recognized in each of these compositions: the cloud forms flowing in the background. Sometimes, the background clouds symbolize the flow of a story, depicting a scene of abundant clouds rising and flowing. Large clouds are also skillfully used to indicate the area’s purity and sanctity by depicting spiritual clouds, or to delineate the scene.
In large vases, high-rise pavilions are often depicted in this type of cloud atmosphere, and a simplified version of this type is known as “undangote. There is a custom to include these undo-te in the so-called kosotsuke. However, kosotsuke is actually a later style and is not the same as kosotsuke. It is thought that this is an accidental confusion.
There is another type of tea bowl called “koakae,” which is a simple yet rich red painting, and is highly prized in our tea ceremony. Old red glaze is mainly in red and green, sometimes in yellow, and generally has large patterns with coarse and quick brush strokes, and is clearly made in the Jingdezhen private kilns. Most of them have only overglaze designs, and even those with underglaze designs have only a small portion of underglaze designs, and these designs are only supplementary to the overglaze designs. The term “koakae” may refer to old-fashioned red glaze, or it may simply mean old-fashioned red glaze, but it is clearly distinct from the five-colored glaze of the official kilns of the Jiajing and Manryaku periods, and is also different from the later Tenkei red glaze and Nanjing red glaze. In Japan, a considerable number of tea bowls, bowls, plates, jars, and incense burners are known to have been produced.
It is not yet clear when these ancient red paintings were made. The design and form of these pieces indicate that they were made in the late period of the above-mentioned Undou hand-work, and the lower limit of the period is the Jiajing period. There is a small dish with an inscription of “Tenmon nenzou,” which is the year of the Muromachi period (1336-1573), and a rare one with an inscription of “Tenmon nenzou. The Tenmun period is from the 11th to 33rd year of the Jiajing period, and the Japanese year must have been specially inscribed on the plate as a trade item for Japan at the time. Among these old red paintings, the Undo-te teacups appear to be of comparatively old manufacture.
In the case of undo-te tea bowls, both in Sometsuke and Ko-Akae, there are two types of bowls with the same design and shape: one is an iron-bowl shaped bowl called “Hachinoko,” and the other is a tubular shape. The tubular type was probably originally created as an incense burner and later applied to tea bowls. In the tea ceremony world, the bowls with standing figures painted on them are called “Kimiidera” and are highly prized. As alternatives to Undo-te, Unryu-te with dragons in the clouds, Unkusa-te with arabesque motifs in the clouds, and Unzo-te with pine, bamboo, and plum motifs are also popular, as well as rare ones with landscapes and figures. All of these are old handles as well as undo handles.
Kozuke (Old Sometsuke)
What has been called kosozuke or kosome in the world of Japanese tea ceremony is neither the early type of tsuke from the Yuan and early Ming dynasties nor the truly old type of tsuke. In fact, the term kosotsuke refers to a special type of underglaze blue ware with a unique style produced in Jingdezhen at the end of the Ming dynasty around the time of Tiankei (1644-1644). In recent years, these have gradually been reorganized, and the term kosotsuke refers specifically to the latter, while the former is called tenkei-sometsuke. The former is called “Tenkei Sometsuke,” and is now distinguished from the latter.
From the end of the Ming dynasty (710-794), the Jingdezhen kilns finally began to show signs of decadence, and by the time of the Tianqing period, the techniques suddenly became crude and simplified. This was because the protection of the imperial court had fallen away, and the strict framework of government supervision was no longer in place. The resulting ceramics, such as some-suke (underglaze blue) and akae (red glaze), were produced using crude materials and techniques, but they were created and painted freely and spontaneously, sometimes demonstrating an unrestrained and eccentric style that was unique and interesting. These crude products were actively exported overseas, and a large amount of tableware was brought to Japan as well. Even today, there are countless examples of late-Ming and early-Qing blue- and red-eyes tableware that have survived.
It was our tea masters who seized upon the charms of this “Tenkei” style and skillfully applied them to the tea ceremony. It is not difficult to imagine the extraordinary interest in this late Ming dynasty blue-and-white porcelain. The tea masters were not satisfied with the selection of ready-made tea utensils, but actively requested porcelain of the tea masters’ taste from this region, and placed special orders, for example, showing designs favored by Oribe and Enshu.
The tea ceremony utensils were varied and rich in content, including vases, water jars, incense containers, tea bowls, and kaiseki dishes, but a type of pattern was naturally established. The “Sung celadon” style vase, called “Sung celadon” vase, was imitated in the “Arithmetic” style, and the “Hishikuchi” vase was a variant of the “Son-gata” bronze vase. The mizusashi (water jar) with sakuragawa (cherry river), bamboo painting, bucket side, hand bucket, grape painting, octagonal grape shelf, potato head, and hand guttering are examples of Japanese maki-e and lacquer ware, as well as Li dynasty and Nanban pottery, boldly incorporating the tastes of the tea ceremony masters. As is well known, there are many types of incense containers, and a wide variety of tableware, such as bowls and mukozuke, are also found, with a strong Oribe style. Tea bowls are relatively few in number, and there are none that can be called standardized. Rather, many of them are bowls, mukozuke, and hibiru (fire bowls) that have been converted into tea bowls. The tea bowls with a kasa (a crown) pattern were originally called “Kakaran,” which means “crowning” or “promotion to a higher position” and is a pattern with a crown scattered over it. The Gosho-muruma, Shukai-shin, and Busyadori are some of the examples of converted cylindrical hinaigiri. The local potters must have been very puzzled by the purely Japanese style of the subject matter, as in the case of the gosho car, and the oddly styled car and carved carriers are all the more interesting for that reason. In this respect, the subjects of the bush seller, Chu Kai-sin, and the ahaha bird are purely Chinese, so we can say that the only thing interesting about them is the shift in the brushstrokes. The ahahadachori is replaced by dragonflies and butterflies. There is a reverse theory that these hinaigiri were originally produced as cylindrical tea bowls, which were then converted to hinaigiri. Or it may be so.
Xiangzui
Among the Jingdezhen ware produced at the end of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) for the Japanese market, the most highly regarded is a tea bowl called “Xiangzui” made by a special top master.
The work is a simple handmade piece of old underglaze blue ware. Unlike the crude handmade old tinted ware, the body, glaze, and blue material are all of beautiful quality, and the deep and brilliant tung blue color is something that could not be expected except for the Hui blue imported from the West. There are various types of Shozui wares, but the standard works, such as the mizusashi (water jar) called “mikan” or “sunaganebukuro,” numerous molded incense containers, waribachi, tebachi, and suhama-shaped bowls, and tsutsu, kaku, and kutsuke (mukozuke) shaped vessels, all of which are shaped to suit Japanese tea masters, are richly decorated with Chinese-style auspicious designs, creating a mixture of Japanese and Chinese styles. The typical example of this design is a Chinese-style bowl with a Chinese-Japanese oriental design. The typical piece is usually inscribed with the inscription “Gorodai Fu, Wu Shorui Zukuri Zukuri,” which has led many to believe that Shorui was made by a Japanese potter. A new theory (Shozui, Yamaguchi Shokusui Art Museum, “Shozui”, article by Saito Kikutaro, “Shonzui New Theory”) has been published and has become the focus of much attention.
The most appropriate reference work to determine the age of Shozui is a chakinzutsu with a Chongjeong inscription in the collection of the Yamaguchi Bokusui Art Museum. It is inscribed with a seven-word couplet that proclaims the creation of wealth by His Majesty the Emperor and the year of Sootei (the eighth year of Sootei). According to Saito’s theory, a large amount of Persian huiqing was sent to China by the Dutch East India Company during the Chongjeong period. This is consistent with the fact that a large amount of Persian huiqing blue ware was exported to Europe and the United States during the Chongzhen period. This is the reason why Xiangzui is richly decorated with beautiful Hui blue, as opposed to the muddy blue of Tenkei earthenware.
In Shozui, as in the case of Kozuke, few tea bowls were produced. In Shozui, as in Kozenzuke, tea bowls were rarely made. However, this form is not suitable for tea ceremonies, and a small version may be used as a tea bowl in a tea box. The Mizutama tea bowl in the collection of the Nezu Museum is another famous example, but judging from the overall design and the wide and large height, it is thought to be a mukozuke. In addition, most of the famous Shozui tea bowls are converted from Mukozuke, which must have originally been Kutsukata Mukozuke, and the Shiho Tea Bowl and Hishiguchi Shiho Tea Bowl, which have become popular in the tea ceremony utensil world, are clearly Mukozuke. In any case, it is certain that this type of Shozui tea bowl is far from the spirit of Wabicha of the Momoyama period, and probably was not ordered as a tea bowl. However, since the Genroku period in the Edo period (1688-1704), there has been a strong demand for novelty and change in the tea ceremony, and it is thought that the trend toward the use of Shozui mukozuke (tea bowls) has emerged.
Gosu
In Japan, crude red enamel ware called “Gosu Akae” was produced in large quantities in Fujian and Canton during the late Ming and early Qing periods as trading goods, and was actively exported from Southeast Asia to India and Persia, as well as to Japan. The crude yellowish-white or grayish-white porcelain was overglazed with red, blue, and green freely and boldly, and the shattered fun of the work was widely appreciated for its friendliness. Bowls, plates, and incense containers with good dimensions were especially suitable for tea ceremonies, and were highly prized by tea masters. As well as the akae gosu, there are a series of gosu handles, such as blue, indigo, white, and rice cake flower handles, and gosu tsuke, and, like the aforementioned kozuke and shozui, special tsuke teacups ordered from Japan. In the world of tea ceremony, the term “gozu” (also written as Koshu) is used to refer to this type of specially dyed tea bowls. The reason why people went to the trouble of ordering tea utensils from a local private kiln was probably because they were attracted by the unassuming and interesting nature of the ware.
Among these tea utensils, water jars and tea bowls are most notable. The most famous one is called “Hishoma”, which is a water jar with a cup-shaped cup, a horse on the side and landscapes, clouds, etc. on the cup front. The twelve-cornered landscapes and small oval landscapes are also highly prized, and the landscapes and round dragons are also popular in tea bowls. The painting is different from the thick brush strokes and bone paintings usually seen in general gosuzome-zome ware, and all of the lines are drawn without change by Hifu. The underglaze white porcelain has a faint grayish-yellow tinge, and the blue-black fine lines impressively depict a series of oddly shaped mountains, clouds, and pine trees, giving the piece a deeply literalistic flavor. This type of gosu is particularly notable for its landscapes, which are considered masterpieces.
The origin of gosu is said to be Wuzhou, or the Wenzhou region of present-day Zhejiang Province, because gosu is often written as “Wuzhou. It is also said to be from the southern part of Fujian Province, in the Shihwei and Tanzhou areas, as well as the Dehua kilns, famous for their white porcelain. Others believe it to be from Shizhou, in the northeastern part of Guangdong Province.
It is thought that the name “Swatou Ware” (Shantou ware) for Gosu red glaze in Europe comes from the fact that it was shipped from Shantou in Guangdong Province, and that, like Imari ware, Shantou ware was actually made in the remote province of Shioju. The Shigong theory seems to be a little more likely, but we have yet to be able to confirm either of these theories. In any case, the kilns producing wujing ware should not be limited to a single region, but in fact, the same type of ware was probably produced in various regions.
Annan
Tie-dyed hand-dyed wares
Annam ceramics are a good example of the glorious history of Korean ceramics that developed on the Korean peninsula as successive waves of Chinese ceramics reached the peninsula. The history of ceramics in Annam, or what is now Vietnam, dates back to the Han Dynasty, but the subsequent changes generally followed the trends of mainland China. White porcelain and celadon of the Tang and Song dynasties were followed by black floral patterns on white grounds, while underglaze blue porcelain of the Yuan and early Ming dynasties had already been produced. For example, a flower vase with two ears and a dragon design, which is said to have been a part of the Ryuuei imperial possessions, has a strong Yuan style. In the world of Japanese tea ceremony, Annam shibori hand-dyed ceramics, known as Benian Annam, were made in the 15th, 6th, or 17th century, and are believed to have come to Japan between the Momoyama period and the early Edo period. Compared to Chinese ceramics, Annamese ceramics are said to have a mild, gentle, and somewhat feminine southern style, without the strong, harsh expressions and complex techniques of Chinese ceramics, probably due to the difference in ethnic backgrounds. However, the shiboride type of underglaze blue and white porcelain prized by tea masters has a hint of Ming Dynasty style, and its open-hearted style is unique even among Annan underglaze blue and white porcelain. The painted decoration of this ancient style indicates that it was not made at the end of the Ming dynasty. Shiborite” literally means that the blue pigment oozes into the glaze, forming a glue of shades of gray, which is believed to be due to the weak quality of the glaze. This is said to be due to the weak quality of the glaze,
Annami is a type of pottery that is inferior in color and quality, and is similar to Wuzhou, a foreign country in Nanjing, but there is a distinction between old and new.
The Kan’ei no Teikan says that Annan is different from Koshutei, a Chinese-style tea bowl with a blue slip, and that it is made with one piece of gold instead of one piece of gold.
Tea bowl, incense burner, and other types of stained-gloss patterns
The right side of a tea bowl is also dyed with shibote, and it is a good piece of dyeing, and there are tea bowls, cylindrical tea bowls, etc., and shibote is a name given to them according to their scenery, but it refers to the pattern of the picture.
The above is an indication that although Annan Sometsuke is originally a poor quality product, Shiboride teacups belong to a good quality of Sometsuke.
There are quite a number of famous shiboride teacups that have been handed down in Japan. The most representative examples are the flower vase with a dragon and cloud pattern that was handed down from the Fujita family, the large flower vase with a dragon and cloud pattern that belonged to the Owari Tokugawa family, and the flower vase with a precious shape that belonged to the Sen family. Among the water jars, we can point out the water jar with a dragon’s ear, which is a favorite of Fujimura Youken and was handed down in Keishun-in, the pagoda of Myoshin-ji Temple. Among the relatively large number of tea bowls, the so-called dragonfly-painting tea bowls with large dragonflies are the most prized, and are representative of dragonfly paintings. The blue pigment soaks into the glaze and is scattered thickly and lightly, and the large, poorly painted dragonflies are further distorted, creating a mysterious pattern. The tea master’s eye that selected this strange tea bowl is indeed remarkable. In addition, there are many other types of tea bowls such as arabesque, flower and bird, and flying phoenix, but as a tea bowl, the dragonfly painting stands out from the rest.
It is not yet known exactly when and where these shibite were fired.
The date is based on the assumption that they were introduced to Japan in the early Edo period. There seems to be a distinction between new and old squeezers, but the ancient ones are in the Ming Dynasty style and can be dated back to at least the latter half of the 15th century. However, if we look closely, we can see that only the dragonfly prints are a little lower than other arabesque prints, due to the distortion of the form. The kiln site of Yue, which was the capital of Bach Chan Annam near Hanoi, is well-known as a site where some Sometsuke ware was fired, and there is a theory that tie-dye in particular may have come from Yue. There are several other kiln sites, but the specific facts of all of them are unknown.
Beniannan
Along with shibote, red-painted teacups called honganan are also highly prized. There are very few of these bowls remaining today, and besides two in the collection of the Tokugawa Art Museum, which belonged to the Owari Tokugawa family, and one that was passed down to an old family in Aichi Prefecture, there are only a few pieces from Indonesia in the future. However, bowls and plates of Annamese red enamel ware have been brought back from Indonesia from time to time in recent years, and a rough estimation can be made by looking through them. The tea bowls have a unique shape, and in the case of the tea bowls, the mouth rim is slightly warped at the edges, and a particularly high and large plate is conspicuous. The inside of the base is coated with a brownish-red astringent glaze. The base is a fine grayish-white clay, and the white glaze is slightly yellowish with visible fine penetrations. The red glaze is mainly composed of simple arabesque patterns. Compared to Ming dynasty red glaze, it is lighter but with coarser brushwork, and is much more ancient than gozu red glaze. Even when used in combination with underglaze blue and underglaze blue, the underglaze blue portion is extremely restrained. In the case of flat bowls, some of the better ones are rarely decorated with gold. These are probably from the 15th or 6th century.
