edo period

Okuda Eisen 奥田頴川

1753-1811malekyo potteryMaruya Moemon was born to a family that had run a pawn shop in Kyoto for generations. He ran the family business until he was 35, when he left it to his son in order to pursue his passion for pottery. He built a kiln on the grounds of Kennin-ji temple, and began making unique ceramics. From 1781-1789 he succeeded in creating the first pieces of Kyo ware.He along with his understudy, Aoki Mokubei, and second generation of understudies, Takahashi Dohachi and Ogata Shuhei, are considered the fathers of Kyo ware ceramics. His most famous products were Gosuakae, but (more…)

Takeuchi Chubei 竹内忠兵衛

Late Edo period-?maleCloisonné ware ceramist. He worked with Suzuki Seiichiro and Tsukamoto Jinuemon at the Dai Nippon Shippo Company(now the Ando Cloisonné Company), established in Nagoya in 1871, as the central figures producing cloisonné ware at the time. At the Centennial Exposition in 1876, and the first and second National Industrial Exhibitions in 1877 and 1881, he was recognized for his extraordinary skills and continued to submit his works under the Dai Nippon Shippo Company, Yokohama Tashiro Shoten Ltd. names as well as under his own, and was widely praised both in Japan and abroad.He created a piece of what (more…)

Takahashi Dohachi 4th 四代 高橋道八

1845-1897malekyo potteryThe son of Dohachi III. Inherited the name in 1872.He not only preserved the techniques and traditions of the Takahashi family but built upon them as well, improving glazes as well as inventing new ones.Also served in various official posts such as a judge at various exhibitions, industrial officer of Kyoto, and professor at Kyoto Arts and Crafts University, making great contributions to the art world. (more…)

Takahashi Dohachi 3rd 三代 高橋道八

1811-1879malekyo potteryInherited his father’s style, and was especially skilled at brush marks and making Mishima ware.In his last years he was encouraged by Hizen Arita to start teaching pottery. His students include Miura Chikusen I. (more…)

Saka Shinbe 8th 八代 坂新兵衛

1796-1877malehagi potteryHe was Saka Koraizaemon the eighth generation but called himself Shinbe.With Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s dispatch to Korea, Mori Terumoto, who ruled the entire Chugoku region at that time, had brought back a potter from Korea and named him Sakata at first, but later changed his name to Saka. After Terumoto was forced to move to Hagi by the Shogunate, the potter received the name Koraizaemon from the 2nd Hagi feudal lord, Mori Tsunahiro, and the 8th generation of Saka Koraizaemon continued to use it to the present.The 8th Koraizaemon was able to protect his family business well by working with (more…)

Saka Koraizaemon 9th 九代 坂高麗左衛門

1839-1921malehagi potteryThe grandson of the 8th generation Saka Koraizaemon. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s dispatch to Korea, Mori Terumoto, who ruled the entire Chugoku region at that time, had brought back a potter from Korea and named him Sakata at first, but later changed his name to Saka. After Terumoto was forced to move to Hagi by the Shogunate, the potter received the name Koraizaemon from the 2nd Hagi feudal lord, Mori Tsunahiro, and the 9th generation of Saka Koraizaemon continued to use it to the present. At present, the 12th generation Saka Koraizaemon is active. From the Meiji to Taisho periods, (more…)

Ohi Soshun (Ohi Chozaemon 8th) 大樋宗春 (八代 大樋長左衛門)

1851-1927maleOverlapping with the new Meiji period, in the time when not only Ohi ware but tea pottery culture was in decline throughout the country, both the eldest and second eldest sons of the seventh generation Michitada (Chozaemon) did not pursue the family business and left the house, which caused Michitada’s cousin, Nara Rikichi, to enter the Ohi family and succeed the family name and estate.After succeeding the name, he produced works thoroughly adhering to traditional pottery techniques while also adding his own originality. He overcame the tumultuous Meiji period and carried on to the prosperity of Ohi ware.Also, he received (more…)

Ohi Chozaemon 1st 初代 大樋長左衛門

1631-1712maleohi potterySaid to have originally descended from the Haji family, who lived in Haji, Kawachi Province, he left for Kyoto at around 1656 and learned the method of producing Raku ware from Ichinyu of the Raku family. It is said that he took up residence near Nijo Kawaramachi, and for that reason it is conjectured that he had some sort of connection to the Oshikoji ware that the nearby Raku branch kiln fired at the time.In 1666, he served the Maeda family of the Kaga Domain, on the recommendation of Senso Soshitsu, who worked as a tea master for the (more…)

Kiyomizu Rokubey 1st 初代 清水六兵衛

1738-1799malekyo potteryAs a child, he went to Kyoto to learn pottery making from a Kyoto potter, Ebihara Kiyobei, and opened his own kiln near Kenninji Temple on Gojozaka.He became a frequent guest at the Myohoin Palace, where he produced Oniwa-ware, and also befriended leading literati and painters of the time, such as Ueda Akinari, Tanomura Chikuden, Maruyama Okyo, and Matsumura Goshun, with whom he collaborated on some of his works. He often produced tea ceremony utensils, such as black raku bowls from the Myohoin Palace garden, as well as sencha ware, which was popular at the time. (more…)

Shimizu Onko 清水温古

Late Edo Period – ?He received the Flower Crest Award in 1877 at the First Annual National Exhibition, establishing his name. In addition, the following year he exhibited ceramic kyusu teapots at the Paris Expo, winning him a bronze medal. He exhibited at the Second Annual National Exhibition. (more…)

Ryubun Douanpei 2nd 二代 龍文堂安平

1779-1841maleAs also known as Shikata Ryubun. Born to first-generation caster Ryubun (or adopted), he inherited the family business in 1805 and was given the name Ryubun II.His strong point was his style of Chinese goods, and he left behind excellent works such as copper stationary, incense burners, bingake wares, etc. His work was favored by painters and calligraphers, and through that connection he became close friends with Raisan Yo and Aoki Mokubei. In his later years, he produced not only cast works, putting energy into creating fired pottery as well, of which he preferred making teacups and kyusu teapots. (more…)

Shibata Okyaku 柴田鴨脚

Late Edo Period –malerokyaku potteryOriginally a potter from Imari, Saga Prefecture, he was known as Shibata Zenpei (also known as Kihei). In 1876, he was invited on to the pottery company Eishinsha in Imari, Hyogo Prefecture. The following year, he was invited to teach pottery at Eiseisha in the same prefecture, and his apprentice was Nakagawa Rokyaku, who went on to create Rokyaku ware.He leaves behind a masterpiece in an unglazed handmade kyusu teapot. (more…)

Shibukusa Ryuzo 渋草柳三

Late Edo Period – Presentmaleshibukusa potteryIn 1841, Toyoda Fujinosuke of Takayama Gundai in Hida, Takayama (Gifu Prefecture) invited potters from neighborhoods such as Seto to vitalize Shibukusa ware. Toda Ryuzo, one of the potters invited at the time, produced the tea sets, tableware, sake sets, etc. that he inherited through his family lineage. His style is to craft using both a spinning wheel and the stamping method, applying both red and iron images.Currently, Ryuzo VII remains active. (more…)

Shirai Hanshichi 白井半七

Early Edo Period – Presentimado potteryHanshichi I was from Imado, Asakusa, Musashi Province, and created unglazed roof tiles and course vessels in this same location. Hanshichi also worked as a potter there. However, it is known that he began working on “tofuro”, clay furnaces, around the Jokyo Period (1684-1688), as well as firing hibachis. He was the first to be called the Imado clay furnace master, and since then the name Hanshichi was inherited for generations. (He passed in 1732.) Hanshichi II inherited the clay furnace making business, but he began applying glaze to the roof tiles and making wares (more…)

Koie Koji 鯉江高司

1846-1912maletokoname potteryHe was a Tokoname-ware potter. The eldest son of Sakakibara Kojiro, he learned how to make bottles at the Inahachiro Kiln, and later learned the technique for manufacturing the earthen pipe, a method originated by his adoptive father Koie Hoju. .In the Meiji era, he learned sculpture from sculptor Kano Tessai, so that Tokoname-ware could be accepted internationally and artistically. He also did research on Satsuma, painted nishiki-e, and exhibited at the Philadelphia Expo and Paris Expo. Furthermore, in 1878, he brought over Kiyoto’s Kinshiko to Tokoname to carry out the manufacturing method of Chinese-style Kyusu (purple sand pots). (more…)

Seidoken Kosai 青道軒幸斎

Late Edo period-malekoto porcelain Originally a monk in Hida-takayama, after returning to secular life and studying painting in Kyoto, he was recognized by the lord of the Hikone domain, Ii Naosuke, and became a Koto-ware painter together with Meiho and worked for him for roughly 2 years.Elaborately designed Aka-e Kinsai-style works, which are the typical style of Koto-ware in the feudal kiln era are well preserved, but Kosai’s work is characterized by its application of a relatively large amount of Chinese poetry together with its pictures. It is reported that he returned to Kyoto once again in 1850 after pursuing (more…)

Kenyu 賢友

Mid Edo periodemalekoto porcelainHe lived in the castle town of Shirakabe-cho around Hikone Castle as one of the ceramic painters of Koto-ware, and as an artist under a clan’s patronage, he often produced aka-e (red painting on ceramics) and blue and white porcelain bowls. In addition, he formed a Kabunakama (a merchant’s guild under the Shogunate) with Tokoyama, Jinensai, and Sekisui, and after painting ceramics at his home, sold them to travelers coming and going through Nakasendo (an Edo-period highway). (more…)

Kutani Shoza 九谷庄三

1816-1883malekutani porcelainBorn the son of a farmer in Terai, Nomi-gun, Kaga domain, he was involved in the ceramics industry as a painter from the age of 11 onward, going independent after opening his own workshop in Terai at the age of 26. Through shifting the painting materials he used from Japanese-made pigments to Western-made pigments, which were just beginning to be imported into Japan at the time, he achieved at neutral-color glaze that had been difficult to achieve up until that point but which soon became the basis of modern Kutani-ware. In the Meiji period, Shoza’s work was exported overseas (more…)