Gama Sennin is a Taoist sennin who usually has a toad on his shoulder. Sennin are the immortals, fairies and wizards of the Taoist tradition that evolved in ancient China. They are typically depicted as recluses living in mountainous areas. They often appear dressed in tattered robes or in cloaks of mugwort leaves. Chinese tradition holds that a three-legged toad inhabits the moon and causes lunar eclipses by swallowing the celestial body. The amphibian is reputed to have stunning powers of escape and a formidable knowledge of healing plants, and the toad is associated with Taoists who seek to develop these talents. Although Taoism never took hold as a formal religion in Japan, large numbers of sennin are represented in Japanese art.

Arita is a town on the island of Kyushu which has been a center of Japanese porcelain production since the seventeenth century. With Arita blue and whites, the blue is produced from a cobalt or indigo pigment and is painted straight onto the biscuit, after which the piece is glazed and fired.

Nabeshima ware is considered to be the most Japanese of all the porcelains and the most technically perfect. It was made at Okawachi, north of Arita, and was named after the prince who founded the kilns at the end of the 17th century. The porcelain was of much higher quality than that made for export and was originally made as presentation ware for the local nobility. Production was limited, and less than perfect specimens were destroyed. Its elegance was considered to be the epitome of refinement, and production methods were kept a carefully guarded secret. From 1868 on, Nabeshima wares were produced for domestic use and Western export.

Oversized dishes (“ozara”) first became popular among the wealthy urban elite in the 16th century, and they were made at the Arita kilns for the feudal lords (daimyos) for food service at banquets or at other ceremonial events. In the early 19th century, when ordinary townspeople had become affluent and restaurants multiplied, the popularity of large blue and white dishes became even more widespread. In response to this new affluence, large dishes were produced in some quantity and sold throughout Japan. With the penetration of urban culture to rural districts due to improved land and sea transportation, Arita porcelain became widely distributed, and many of these oversized dishes were used at large dinner parties held by leading families in rural districts.

This huge thickly potted charger is an exceptional example of high quality sometsuke porcelain made for the Japanese market, and pieces of this size and quality are rare to find outside of Japan. A similar but smaller charger is illustrated in Figure 62, “Ruri Gi Tsuru Maru Mon Ozara,” in the rare limited edition book entitled SOMETSUKE IMARI OZARA (“Imari Ware: Blue and White Large Dishes”) by Masahiko Kawahara, Tokyo, 1974. This is truly an extraordinary piece.

Seaside landscape scenes cast in high relief decorate both the front and back sides, enhanced by raised silver inlays. All the inlays are done in the taka-zogan technique, the process of hammering the silver into grooves cut into the iron. On one side, two silver sea birds (“chidori” or plovers) skim over rough foaming waves, where inlaid silver spots sparkle as foam on the breaking crests. On the other side, a silver full moon rises above the waves, which are also dotted with sparkling silver bubbles of froth. Temples and lanterns cast in low relief appear on the distant shores. The ends of the removable bronze handle, which is also inlaid with two silver chidori, were forged into large curls that fit through the arched cast iron bodies of two kylin dragon-like creatures that form the unusual handle mounts. The inside of the bronze lid is unsigned, and the bronze finial is inlaid with silver.

Tetsubin were popular in Japan as everyday household utensils and for informal and semi-formal tea drinking. During the second half of the 19th century, tetsubin made especially as tea utensils came to be highly esteemed. They were often elaborately decorated with cast iron ornament or with inlays of copper, gold or silver. Fine ornamental tetsubin of this type were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. A common characteristic of these sencha kettles was that one side more heavily decorated than the other. In the sencha tea ceremony a tetsubin, held by the host in his right hand, is looked at by the guest with the spout pointing to the right. This is the side of the tetsubin which is usually more ornately decorated in order to enable the guest to admire the kettle’s “best” side.

In the winter months in China, handwarmers would be filled with glowing coals and carried to warm the holder’s icy fingers and toes. A New Year’s tradition had villagers taking coals from the main village fire back to their own homes in handwarmers such as this one to ensure good fortune in the coming year. The intricate and refined beauty of these utilitarian objects also made handwarmers an important accoutrement in the scholar’s study.

The miniature figure of Kannon stands on a lotus blossom base in a rocky outcropping, encased in a boat-shaped body halo or mandala. He is represented as an Indian prince with a crown, jewels and skirt, and he holds a bottle of heavenly nectar. Polychrome pigments have been used to color his hair and jewels, and there are gilt highlights on both the figure and the rocks. Kannon (called “Kuan-yin” in Chinese) is the bodhisattva or saint of mercy and compassion. The Japanese term Kannon literally means "watchful listening," and it is often translated as "the one who sees/hears all." This is indeed the task of the compassionate Kannon -- to witness and listen to the prayers and cries of those in difficulty in the earthly realm and to help them achieve enlightenment.

The tiny figure of Kobo Daishi is seated inside the doors of a miniature shrine. He sits on a wood chair which rests atop a pedestal, and his shoes are placed underneath the front of the chair in customary form. He holds a Buddhist rosary in his left hand and a vajra (mace with four prongs symbolizing a thunderbolt) in his right hand. There are gilt highlights on the figure and the shrine doors and drapery. Kobo Daishi (774-835) is one of the most venerated figures of early Japanese Buddhism. He was the founder of the Shingon (True Word) sect of Buddhism, as well as a philosopher, poet, educational reformer, painter and calligrapher.

Seishoen’s works are highly regarded and are considered to be of similar caliber to those by more widely known studio potters such as Makuzu Kozan or Shofu. A signed Seishoen vase is featured in the world famous Khalili Collection, illustrated in “Treasures of Imperial Japan: Ceramics from the Khalili Collection” on pages 41 and 78.

Oribe ware, a folk pottery produced in kilns located in Mino and Seto, is particularly Japanese in taste and was never made for export. Its characteristics included bold and spontaneous designs and contours that were executed in styles that were distinct, imaginative and vigorous. Although the design, glazing and coloration were done in Oribe style, this dish could have come from other Japanese folk kilns. It is often difficult to identify the specific place of manufacture of many 19th century Japanese folk ceramics because the spread of technology from one area to another was a particularly distinctive feature of the early to mid-19th century. This gave rise to a situation in which ceramics of closely similar types were made all over Japan.

The kesa – a simple, rectangular toga-like garment that is the most typical and significant part of a Buddhist priest’s dress -- has essentially remained unchanged since its beginnings in the early centuries of Japanese Buddhism dating from the sixth century. Kesa were classified into general categories according to the number of columns that were created by placing vertical dividing strips of cloth extending from the upper to the lower borders. Each column was internally divided by one or more horizontal strips depending on the total number of columns in the kesa, thus creating a patchwork effect. A border and four decorative corner pieces complete the robe, which was worn over the left shoulder and wrapped around the body. The open front of the robe is held close to the body by the monk’s thumb, which is placed into a loop in the inside of the robe. The seven-column kesa is the one most widely worn by members of all sects for formal ceremonies, including worship of the deity, reading of sutras, and attendance at lectures on texts.

In Japan, it was believed that the donation of robes to the clergy was a meritorious act, and from an early date, monks there favored robes made of the most sumptuous brocades. The patchwork construction was maintained as a reminder of its humbler origins, when kesa were made from discarded pieces of old cloth. The kesa itself can be considered as a mandala, a Sanskrit term for a symbolic rendering of the universe. The four corner squares represent the four cardinal directions, the center column symbolizes the Buddha, and the two flanking squares are his attendants. (See the chapter on kesa in JAPANESE COSTUME: HISTORY AND TRADITION by Alan Kennedy.) While kesa are unfamiliar to many outside of the Buddhist community, they are in the collections of many museums outside of Japan. Five U.S. museums have holdings of 100 kesa or more (MFA Boston, RISD, Metropolitan Museum, Yale University and the Nelson-Atkins Museum).

The process of dyeing textiles from stencils is principally a resist technique which involves covering the area to be protected with a soluble rice paste applied directly to the fabric. After the application of the paste, the stenciler then carefully removes the stencil and moves it to an adjacent position to repeat the process, continuing the entire length of the yardage to be stenciled. “Katagami,” the special papers used in the process of stencil cutting, were made from the inner bark of the mulberry bush. Soaked in the juice of aged persimmons, two or three sheets were laminated together and smoke cured. After the paper was cured, the tannin from the persimmon juice formed a plastic-like waterproof coating which made the shiny paper stiff yet pliable and served to waterproof it against the dissolving effect of the water-based resist paste used in the process of dyeing. The cutting process required the utmost skill and the sharpest of separate knives for the different cuts required by the pattern design. Highly skilled craftsmen cut the paper using circular punches and knives to create elaborate patterns of minute landscapes, flowers, birds, insects and other detailed designs with extreme care and patience. Many designs took months to cut. (See “Traditional Japanese Stencil Designs” edited by Clarence Hornung.)