1873-1909
Kawahara Noritatsu who was the secretary of the ceramics factory office at the Vienna World’s Fair took over after it dissolved there, and from a factory setup in 1873 which specialized in ceramic painting to be exported, he ordered unglazed ceramics from Seto’s Kato Shigeju and Arita etc., gathered brilliant ceramic painting craftsmen, and developed realistic painting in a Japanese-like style.
That technique was evaluated many times at exhibitions in Japan and overseas, and although built for a period of time, in the later years they fell into financial difficulties and became the exclusive factory of Morimura Gumi (currently Noritake Company).
Also, in 1906 Kawahara and his entrepreneur relative, Hirose Mitsumasa, jointly established Kyoto Hyochien in Higashiyama, Kyoto. At the same time, under the name of ‘Fukube-ware’ (Fukube means ‘gourd’) they manufactured ceramics, but it too did not take off and virtually dissolved. It is because of that, Kyoto Hyochien made ceramics are said to be extremely rare pottery and very few exist.
