Hirado wares are considered to be among the finest porcelains ever made in Japan, and they are highly prized among today’s collectors. Hirado was produced at Mikawachi near Arita, and for much of its history was made under the patronage of the lords of Hirado. Aristocratic patronage ended in the 1830’s with the commercialization of the kilns; however, the quality of Hirado remained very high. Hirado ware consists of a very pure, fine-grained and high-quality white porcelain, usually decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. It is characterized by highly refined white clay that would be fired to high temperatures, and the glaze was lustrous and void of any kind of granulation.

The lotus (“hasu”) is a water flower that rises above large fan-shaped leaves, growing in still, shallow bodies of fresh water and mud. Buddhist traditions hold that the lotus is a sacred flower. In secular Chinese art, the lotus has many auspicious meanings, variously symbolizing harmony, love, sympathy and prosperity.

Oversized dishes (“ozara”) first became popular among the wealthy urban elite in the 16th century, and paintings since the Edo period often depicted ozara as an important part of the décor for formal gatherings. In the19th 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.

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. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export. Blue and white sometsuke porcelain ozara in this style were made for the domestic Japanese market, and they are prized by Japanese collectors today. Antique Arita chargers decorated with this particular molded rabbit motif are much sought after due to their rarity.

The reverse is simply decorated with underglaze blue kanji characters, and the base is marked with a blue mark character that says “deer” framed within a diamond. There is a hole at the base of the cask which once held a plug, and a metal carrying handle wrapped in bamboo has been fitted into the two porcelain loops on the top. Horizontal and vertical rope designs have been molded in high relief to simulate an actual straw-wrapped keg. A porcelain stopper molded in rope form has a cork lining to hold it securely in place. It is rare to find these casks with the original porcelain tops intact. See similar barrel form porcelain casks illustrated in Figure 123 of the article “Tokkuri and Friends” which appeared in ARTS OF ASIA magazine, January/February 1995.

This porcelain cask has been molded to resemble the straw-wrapped cypress kegs (“komokaburi”) used for transporting sake, with high relief molded “ropes” to hold the molded “straw wrapping” in place. During the Edo period, rural sake brewers needed a method of transporting their brew to the large cities. These large porcelain casks could be carried on pack horses or transported on special ships called “taru kaisen” or cask ships. Until the 1940’s, they continued to be used to dispense draft sake in shops. Customers would come into the shop with their own smaller ceramic bottles and have them refilled with their favorite brand. These large casks are handsome decorative items that make an appealing accent to any décor, either by themselves or recycled into lamps.

Tominaga Genroku (1859-1920) was one of the principal potters of Ureshino near Arita. He began the Genroku Studio during Meiji period with the goal of producing the highest quality porcelain in the traditional Imari manner of the 18th century. He did this by revitalizing the kilns of the Ureshino yaki potters who worked in the area in the late 16th/early 17th centuries. In the mid-18th century, the Ureshino potters operated under the patronage and protection of Lord Nabeshima, a name connected with the finest Japanese porcelains.

Genroku was a highly skilled Japanese-style painter and potter as well as a teacher at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. He exhibited his work only at Japanese exhibitions, and later he became head of the Protection of Cultural Properties Commission. He won a “santo shohai” (third prize) at the Fifth National Industrial Exposition in 1903. Genroku’s works are highly regarded and are considered to be of the caliber of those by more widely known studio potters such as Makuzu Kozan. Examples of his porcelains are featured in the world famous Khalili Collection entitled “Treasures of Imperial Japan.”

The white peak of Mount Fuji rises up against the palest of blue skies, which fades to an even lighter shade as it approaches the edge of the plate. Soft gray wisps of “fukizumi” clouds drift by the peak of the mountain, a unique and dramatic effect that was accomplished by the use of gray pigment being sprayed through a tube onto the surface of the plate. A diapered geometric border in blue and golden brown encircles the rim. The reverse is simply decorated with five bats within encircling blue lines and the four-character Senpoen mark. The low foot rim is unglazed, showing a very pure, fine-grained and high-quality white porcelain clay.

The Omi Hakkei are the eight most beautiful scenic spots in the southern part of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. Ando Hiroshige's series of woodblock prints entitled “Eight Views of Omi” became famous for depicting these vistas. A similar ozara decorated with this motif is illustrated in Figure 116 in the rare limited edition book “Sometsuke Imari Ozara” (“Imari Ware: Blue and White Large Dishes”) by Masahiko Kawahara, Tokyo,1974.

Oversized dishes (“ozara”) first became popular among the wealthy urban elite in the 16th century, and paintings since the Edo period often depicted ozara as an important part of the décor for formal gatherings. In the 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.

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. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export. Blue and white sometsuke porcelain ozara in this style were made for the domestic Japanese market, and they are prized by Japanese collectors today.

Oversized dishes (“ozara”) first became popular among the wealthy urban elite in the 16th century, and paintings since the Edo period often depicted ozara as an important part of the décor for formal gatherings. In the19th 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.

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. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export. Blue and white sometsuke porcelain ozara in this style were made for the domestic Japanese market, and they are prized by Japanese collectors today.

The bamboo stalks and leaves are finely rendered in soft, freely drawn underglaze blue on a clear white ground. The subtle background shading moves up from a milky white and subtly changes to a lighter and then somewhat darker shade of blue, contrasting wonderfully with the bright white moon behind the bamboo leaves. A diapered floral border encircles the rim. The reverse has no decoration, with the exception of a double blue line encircling the unglazed foot and the four-character Senpoen mark in the center of the back. The low foot rim is unglazed, showing a very pure, fine-grained and high-quality white porcelain clay.

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. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export. Blue and white sometsuke porcelains with a karakusa designs are examples of wares made for the domestic Japanese market, and they are prized by Japanese collectors.

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.