Ogata Kenzan
Although his works are not as significant as those of Nisei and Kenzan, they are highly valued in the world of tea ceremony as a distinctive style of Kyo-yaki pottery. For this reason, we have selected a few of the works in this volume as precursors to Kensan ware and illustrated them here.
Kakuansai Mitsuho, grandson of Hon’ami Koetsu, was born in 1601 (Keicho 6) and died in 1682 at the age of 82. He was already thirty-seven years old when Koetsu died in 1637, so he had a close insight into Koetsu’s life in the last years of his life after living in a hermitage in Takamine. It is assumed that Koetsu’s influence on him was great, as he was a man of good character and had the air of a chief.
He was also friends with Horin Seisho of Rokuenji Temple, who left important materials on Kyo-yaki, and was related to Gankinya, the birthplace of Korin Kenzan. When Koho died, Gonpei was 20 years old.
Although it is said that the pottery of Kurosai, like that of Koetsu, was not a part of the family business, the range of Kurosai’s pottery is wider than that of Koetsu, as can be inferred from his remaining works, and he produced not only Raku tea bowls but also Shigaraki-sha works, which are characterized by their being called “Koro-Shigaraki”. However, Aerial Shigaraki was not fired in the kilns of Shigaraki Township, but probably in the kilns at the foot of Higashiyama, as Awataguchi ware and Nikiyo’s Omuro ware were also made in the Shigaraki-style at that time.
Most of the pieces are incense containers, water jars, and tea bowls, all of which have a wabi-style flavor. What is interesting is that his taste for elegance, while emulating the Momoyama style, seems to reflect the transitional period between the Momoyama period and the early Edo period in which he lived. The style of his work, which is not found in any other Kyo-yaki including Nisei, cannot be overlooked as a unique style when looking at Kyo-yaki of the early Edo period. It is also assumed that the existence of Koetsu and Kukanaka was the motivation that later inspired Kensan to pursue ceramics, and that Kensan, while learning pottery techniques from Ninsei, opened up a completely different world of elegant ceramics, which was made possible by the so-called Rimpa school, with Koetsu as its founder. In this sense, Koho Kakaisai played an important role in the development of the Rimpa school of pottery.
Needless to say, Korin Ogata was the younger brother of the painter Ogata Korin, and was born in 1663 as the third son of Ogata Soken, a leading kimono merchant in Kyoto. His real name was Tadamasa, and his nickname was Gonpei. In 1687, when his father left him, he changed his name to Ogata Shinsho (Kenzan wrote “Ogata” instead of “Korin”), which he retained for the rest of his life. He received from his father Soken a house in Takamine Koetsumura, ink seals by Tsukie Shoin, a set of books, and other inheritances, and built a house at the foot of Omuro Shujigaoka in Rakusai, which he probably had long desired, and named it Shuseido. The following is an account of his life during this period, written in 1690 by his fellow Zen master Gatan Dosojo under Dosho Dokusho of the Saga Naoshi-an, which Kenzan had been visiting for some time. It is estimated that it was around this time that he began to take on the titles of Reikai and Happa-Zen, which reflects his young age, his sympathy for Zen, and his preference for seclusion. It is thought that he learned his poetic ideas from Dokusho Seien and other members of the Obaku school during this period, as he later became a prolific potter of unique elegant ceramics with painted poetic and pictorial inscriptions. Although his father Soken, who was related to Koetsu, often wrote in the style of Koetsu, the reason why Kenzan’s calligraphy is based on the style of Teika is due to the fact that the calligraphy of Fujiwara no Teika had been especially favored since the Momoyama period among the Japanese styles since the Heian period, and also due to the fact that he had been close to the court noble Nijo Tsunahira from his early childhood. In addition, his friendship with the court noble Nijo Tsunahira may have played a role.
According to the “Nijo Family Daily Record,” Nijo Tsunapei visited the residence of Ogata Fukasyo in the 6th year of Genroku (1688), and according to the “Hozoji Documents,” in the 7th year of the following year, he received from the Nijo family the mountain house of Narutaki Senkei, where Kenzan later built his kiln.
It is not clear whether or not he already had the intention of opening the Senkei kiln at this time, but the fact that he was given the property in Senkei, which is a much more remote area than Omuro, may have been a motivation for him. Needless to say, the most important motive for his pottery production was his residence near the kiln of Nikiyo Omuro. It is assumed that Ninsei I had already died by the time he settled in the kiln in 2 Genroku, and his son took the name Ninsei II, and that “Nonomura Harima Taisho Fujiyoshi,” who gave him a pottery instruction manual when he opened Narutaki in 12 Genroku, was the second son of Ninsei I, Seijiro. The author speculates that after the death of the first generation, Seiemon Masanobu died prematurely or for some other reason, and his second son, Seijiro Fujiyoshi, was given the title of “Harima Ojyo” again and took over. Although he was firing colored pottery and other ceramics using the same techniques that had been used since the first generation, it is likely that he was not producing such excellent pieces when Fukasyo was a close visitor to the kiln, as evidenced by a note by Maeda Sadachika in Genroku 8, “Nisei ni nisei ni okeru shite ni gozasou. Although Ninsei I was well known as a master potter, his sons were all mediocre potters, and it seems from the fragmentary data that they were run by the first generation, Yomitsu, who ran the Omuro Pottery business. However, they must have had the good nature of people that is common in the second generation. He was in close contact with the approaching Fukasho, and eventually passed on the pottery methods that the first generation had painstakingly studied when he opened the kiln of Qianzan-yaki. When Omuro-yaki was in such a state, Fukasyo often went from his retreat to learn pottery techniques, and finally, in the 12th year of the Genroku era, he built a kiln in a house that had been given to him by the Nijo family, and began to make pottery.
According to the “Essentials for Potters,” a handbook on pottery production written by Inzan, Seiwemon and Magobei of Oshikoji Pottery assisted him in the production of pottery. The name of the kiln was changed to “Qianzan” because of the location of Quanxi, which is in the direction of Qian from Kyoto, but this was only a common name for the kiln or the name of the pottery.
Unfortunately, it is still difficult to grasp the true nature of Qianzan ware during the Narutaki period. Based on the pottery shards excavated from the kiln site and other artifacts, it seems that even though he was taught the pottery method by Inkiyo, his style was not an extension of the Inkiyo style of neat wheel throwing and beautiful overglaze enameled pottery, but rather a very different style from the beginning. However, there are examples of gilded and color-painted sake cup bases among the early pieces, which suggest some of the influence of the Inqing ceramics.
The pottery shards excavated from the old kiln site include both main kiln ware and low-fired soft ware (inner kiln ware), which clearly indicates that Narutaki’s Qianzan ware was produced using both main kiln ware and inner kiln ware. However, Narutaki at that time was quite remote from the center of Kyoto, and even if it was a cottage industry, it must have been an inconvenient place for pottery production and distribution. However, the pottery was not a major occupation for him. However, the fact that Kensan’s name is mentioned in “Wakan sansai zue” written in 1713 (Shoutoku 3), along with pottery from Omuro, Kiyomizu, Fukakusa, etc., indicates that Kensan ware was highly regarded by the public, and it is also clear that Kensan ware had established a unique style from its opening in September of Genroku 12 to its move to Nijo Choshiya-cho, Kyoto, in Shoutoku 2. It is certain that the kiln established a unique style of its own.
The most notable examples of Qianzan ware are the so-called “12 months colored paper plates” with underglaze white glaze, which are all fired in a low-fired inner kiln, and are characterized by the use of underglaze color and underglaze ironware to represent paintings, waka poems, and poetic verses. They were all fired in a low-fired inner kiln, and were unique products of Qianzan ware. Using this technique, Korin Kienzan plates were produced from around 1710 to the Shotoku period (1711-16), painted directly by his elder brother Korin, and are now highly regarded as the most important pieces of Kienzan ware. In addition, in a book he wrote in September of 1737 titled “Ceramics Making Methods,” Korin Kensan himself stated, “The first paintings were all done by Korin himself, but now the style of painting is the same as Korin’s, and I have also shared my new ideas with him and passed them on to my children. As stated by Korin himself, Kensan ware was based on Korin’s design, with Kensan’s unique design added to it, and this is evident from an overview of the works that have survived.
Therefore, among Korin’s works, those that can be attributed to Korin or Kensan are limited to those with a signature in Korin’s own hand and a poem or inscription by Kensan on it. Other works, such as “Lidded Ware with Design of Pine Waves in Iron and Silver underglaze Enamels” (126) and “Lidded Ware with Design of Pine Waves in Iron and Silver underglaze Enamels” (Figure 127), do not bear Korin’s signature but are presumed to have been painted by him, or to be self-portraits by Korin or Kienzan, or to have been designed and painted in his workshop (in which case, Korin and Kienzan may have been involved in the painting process). Some are presumed to have been painted by Korin or Kensan (in which case it is not clear whether Kensan himself was involved in the painting), some are painted by artists other than Korin (such as Watanabe Soshin), and some are presumed to have been signed by Kensan himself with a poem or the name “Kensan”, and some are painted and signed by other artists (it is not clear whether they were by Kensan or other artisans). All of these items were produced as Inzan ware from Narutaki through the Nijo Choshiya-machi period. However, despite the fact that they were produced in a workshop, most of them were not identified as Qianzan ware, but rather as the work of Qianzan, which has become a major problem for Qianzan ware connoisseurs, and there is still much that remains undetermined about the style.
Inohachi seems to have produced Qianzan ware with the same name as that of his adoptive father, Qianzan, at a kiln established in Shogoin, Kyoto, and many of these pieces were passed down through the generations not as Inohachi Qianzan, but as the work of the first generation. Many of these pieces were passed down through the generations not as Inohachi Kenzan, but as the work of the first Inohachi Kenzan.
As mentioned above, the pottery style of Qianzan is quite different from that of Insei, and first of all, his pottery is not wheel-thrown as elegantly as Insei’s. Most of his pieces are molds or simple half-turns.
Most of them are molds, simple semi-tubular bowls, or handmade wares. It seems that rather than following the style of Insei’s pottery by attending his kiln, he had a clear desire from the beginning to create a so-called Rimpa school design by utilizing the Insei tradition of color and rust painting techniques. The fact that he began making pottery at the age of 37 is thought to have been the result of his passion to create something unique and different from traditional Kyo-yaki pottery, including the Ninsei style.
In this sense, the keynote of Qianzan ware is clearly its insistence on the expression of pure painting on the ceramic body, or the display of pictorial decorativeness. The most appropriate ceramic technique for realizing this was the effective application of white underglaze enameling, and a reading of “The Essentials of Pottery” will naturally show that all kinds of ceramic techniques were actually tried using the internal kiln pottery methods of the Ninsei and Oshikoji styles. As he writes in his book, “The translation of the clay used for the preparation of the clay is as described in the previous section: ‘Any clay from any of the eight countries can be used for the preparation of the base, and any clay from any of the eight countries can be used for the top. As he wrote, “I am not a fan of the technique of wheel-thrown pottery, but I am interested in the technique of wheel-thrown pottery.
However, the excellent wheel-thrown forms are only possible when the clay is of high quality, and Qianzan seems to have been quite indifferent to this point, and none of his vessels show the same lightness on the potter’s wheel as the Insei ceramics. Although he showed a strong interest in glazed branching with painting as the theme, most of his pottery is characterized by the use of molds, or the use of the bare clay of purchased pieces, or the so-called “waribachi” style of bowls, which are formed by incising into a ginkgo shape to bring about a change. However, the world of tasteful and free designs that more than compensate for the mediocrity of the pottery are pleasurable enough for us to enjoy, and even at the time when Qianzan ware first appeared, some eccentrics must have been very sympathetic to the pottery. Otherwise, Qianzan’s kilns would not have been so large that there would not have been as much left for us to see, nor would there have been any later imitations of his work.
In the second year of Shotoku era, Kenzan moved from Narutaki, where he had been producing various products while his kiln smoked for about 12 years, to Nijo Choshiya-cho in the center of Kyoto. The reason for the move is not clear, but I believe it may have been due to the inconvenience of the pottery business. It has been speculated, but it is still unclear, that the pottery produced during the Choshiya-cho period consisted mainly of mass-produced items such as matsuri-mono, since the town did not have its own kiln but borrowed kilns for production. I suspect that he established his own style during the Narutaki period and returned to Kyoto to actively produce Qianzan ware. However, as I thought, the entrepreneurial qualities may have been lacking in the Kensan who preferred seclusion, and it seems that his time in Choshiya-cho ended in disappointment.
It is assumed that he fired soft pottery in his own kiln in Edo, but the details of his works from this period are not known at all. In 1737, at the invitation of Okawa Kendo of Sano, Shimonokuni (Tochigi Prefecture), Sudo Togawa of Koshina, and Matsumura Tsubo-Seitei, he went to Sano to make pottery and teach pottery making as requested. Although it is not known when he returned to Edo from Sano, it is assumed that the death in Genbun 3 of Prince Koukan, who had been the greatest patron of Kenzan in his later years, must have been a great blow to him. It is said that on June 2, 1743, he passed away, leaving behind the following poem: “In 81 years of cruelty and misery, I have swallowed a mouthful of water, and the world is a big thousand floats and happy times, but if it passes, it will be the dream of akekure.
