First of all, I want to apologize for loosely naming the sub-pages of this one Kutani and Satsuma. I have been a collector of Japanese wares for several years and have done as much research as I could. The history of Japanese wares dates back hundreds of years. While most people refer to hand-painted Japanese wares as either Kutani or Satsuma, the truth is, those two names are just the tip of the iceberg. Neither one is the name of a company, both are locations, nor were they the first of many. So, I suppose I should name one of the sub pages “Japanese Porcelain” and the other would be kind of difficult. Satsuma is not pottery, at least that’s what the “experts” say. It is earthenware and is fired differently that porcelain or pottery. GEEZ! Maybe I should have a separate page for every kiln. BUT, there won’t be many pictures, but the history will be interesting. Anyway, I will do the best I can to re-research everything I researched before. The documents I had previously written are in another state!
I wanted to add history of Kutani and Satsuma, but after consideration, and my interest, I must include the history of as many kilns, styles, artists, and so on as I can. This is my blog, so I guess I can go as crazy as I want! Who is really to say that what we call Kutani is really Kutani… Maybe it was made somewhere else in Japan. Kutani wasn’t the only white porcelain made in Japan. Kutani porcelain gets its name from the the white stone found in the gold mines in the Kutani Village. Similar stones used to make porcelain were found in other parts of Japan, and that’s how some of the other types were named
You would just have to do research on the makers mark to find out what company made it and where it is located. That in itself can pose a big problem, because prior to WWII, who could read what it says, if anything at all. Many early kilns just made pieces for their Daimyos collections so they didn’t have any marks on the bottoms. The kilns that did sell their wares and had marks on the bottom were such that 80% of the population in Japan couldn’t even read them. There were many writing styles plus some were written from right to left, left to right, top to bottom or bottom to top… You would also have to research the Japanese alphabet.
Now you could find a company online, send them pictures of your items, with the mark on the bottom, and hope you get a response. Problem is, most of them will not respond. It is like they never even read their emails! If you just collect a few pieces, then maybe it doesn’t matter where it is from or how old it is. But, to me, the history is part of the beauty.
From what I have read, most (I would say all) of the Japanese wares (porcelain, pottery, ceramics, earthenware, and so on) made in Japan is inspired by Korean Potters and the elaborate colors and designs are inspired by Chinese wares. Many of the Daimyos in Japan collected Chinese pottery and ceramics, and that’s why they started making their own. How did the Korean potters come to be in Japan? Well, most of them were basically brought to Japan after they invaded Korea and brought the potters back to work in their newly formed Kilns. It almost makes you wonder if they invaded Korea just to kidnap the potters.
NOW, IF JAPANESE POTTERY IS YOUR STYLE, then we have to go back EVEN father to the 1300′s! I think this is for another page! Not only are there many types of kilns used, but many different types of clay. Believe it or not, there are still potters that are making pottery the old way, and some are quite famous! It requires a whole new research, because I have done none on Japanese pottery.
This page has the following sub pages.
