japanese kutani marks red rectangle gold symbols

It also tended to feature more detailed beautiful landscapes, nature scenes, or people. However, Kutani ware, also known as kutani-yaki, was different from the more subtle Raku ware and Imari styles and featured more vibrant colors like green, yellow, purple, red, and blue. Goto returned to his village of Kutani after his studies and established a kiln there.

At that time, the Maeda clan owned the land, and after finding the pottery stone, the daimyo (feudal lord) of the Kaga Domain sent a man named Saijiro Goto to Arita to learn how to make the porcelain.Īrita was, and still is, known for its porcelain arts called Arita ware, making it perfect for Goto’s studies. Pottery stone was discovered in the mines of Kutani, located in what is now Kaga city in the Ishikawa prefecture. The first recorded mention of this style was in 1655, but its history dates back to the earlier 17th century. Kutani ware’s unique and fascinating history starts in the early Edo period. Let’s learn all about this classic and colorful traditional art. Iroe is the most colorful of the Kutani styles, with five different colors used: yellow, green, red, purple and Prussian blue.Kutani ware is famous for it’s interesting combination of colors and beautiful design, like this plate. Red is omitted leaving the Prussian blue as the most striking. AoteĪote was popularized by the Yoshidaya Kiln. On the underside of the pieces is the Kutani signature, normally painted on as porcelain marks.

Below we have included some of the most common styles. The characteristics of the pottery are generally defined as being made of thin porcelain and being glazed with a combination of yellow, green, purple, red and Prussian blue colors. There are several different types of Kutani ware. Once the gold or silver has been applied and the top glaze added, the piece is fired for the final time. It is fired again, and the colors mix with the glaze, turning vivid and bright.Īfter this step, it’s ready for its gold or silver leaf application. In true Kutani style, after the second firing, the piece is painted with colorful overglaze. The white glaze helps to strengthen the porcelain piece. Next, an underglaze is applied, along with a white glaze, which turns it translucent and almost glass-like after firing. The purified clay is shaped by the potter and then fired once. Kutani is made from white China clay from Komatsu. The porcelain evolved, developing different styles and individual Kutani artists became prominent.Īrtists such as Tokuda Yasokichi III and Minori Yoshida were bestowed with the titles “National Living Treasures” thanks to their work modernizing the traditional Kutani ware styles. Until 1940, it was made at the original site of the Yoshidaya Kiln. Kutani ware quickly became an in-demand product, and the original kiln started to prosper. It was a hit and began to receive significant attention from the West and Europe in particular.

Wazen Eiraku, a craftsman from Kyoto, was called upon to help revive its fortunes, developing E iraku-fu in the process.įollowing the fall of the shogunate and start of the Meiji Period, Kutani Ware was exhibited for the first time in Vienna in 1873. When Miyamotoya passed away in 1845, the kiln began to fall into disrepair. It soon became renowned across the country for the high quality of its signature four-color glazes. While it was originally built to restore the older Kutani ware (known as Ko-Kutani) style, the Yoshidaya-Miyamotoya Kiln developed its own signature style in the process. Tokuda Yasokichi III | Photo by Ariya Stock via A New Phase of Yoshidaya Products created prior to 1705 are known as ko-kutani (old kutani) ware. For around a century, Kutani ware from 1705 onwards is impossible to find as the kiln disappeared, and no-one is sure exactly why. Just 50 years after production began, however, it suddenly stopped. Kutani ware got its name due to the original kiln being located in Kutani, Ishikawa. It is believed to have used a similar porcelain to Arita ware.įrom its inception, Kutani ware was distinguishable thanks to the use of over-glaze painting which produced strikingly vivid colors.Ĭreated with Japanese porcelain, Kutani ware pieces made the most of the material’s flexible qualities, teasing out vases and tea sets into wafer-thin shapes. Kutani ware was first produced in 1655 in the city of Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture, by Toshiharu Maeda and Saijiro Goto. The porcelain is famed for its elegant designs, characterized by the use of exceptionally vivid colors, made possible by the firing process. Kutani ware is a style of fine porcelain pottery developed in Kutani, Ishikawa Prefecture over 350 years ago.

Japanese kutani marks red rectangle gold symbols