Gosu Gombei is said to have helped Sakaida Kakiemon of Minamikawara, Hizen (Magokawa, Nishi-Arita-cho, Nishi-Matsuura-gun, Saga Prefecture) achieve success in red painting during the Shoho period (1644-8). Gombei is said to have been either Japanese or Ming, and there are various theories that he was so named because he was a skilled gosu potter, or because he was a Chinese gosu trader. It is also said that he was the same person as Uda Gonbei. (Hizen Toke Biographies, History of Japanese Ceramics, Studies in Ceramic Crafts)
