The karakusa design is one of many scrolling vine patterns used to decorate Arita and Imari wares, and blue and white sometsuke porcelains with the takokarakusa design are examples of wares made for the domestic Japanese market. 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. These humble storage bottles often have a greater appeal than export ware because they show a highly developed sense for matching materials, form and function with simple beauty.

CONDITION is excellent, with no chips, cracks or restoration. It is most unusual to find such a large old utilitarian ceramic tokkuri in such great shape.

Also known as Shofu Kajo, this potter was born in Seto in 1870. He came to Kyoto in 1888, and in 1890, he was adopted into the Shofu Kajo family. In 1908, he set up the Shofu Ceramics Company, Ltd. and was awarded a Green Ribbon in 1915. First awarded in 1885, the Green Ribbon was a "Medal of Honor" awarded to "individuals who, through their diligence and perseverance while engaging in their professional activities, became public role models.”

Shofu excelled in hard-paste porcelains and was known for his blowout designs in multi-colored glazes. He is said to have invented several new techniques, including moriage or low relief porcelain. Shofu’s works are generally classified in the same league as those of renowned studio potters Makazu Kozan and Seifu Yohei III. Several examples of his porcelains are featured in “Treasures of Imperial Japan: Ceramics from the Khalili Collection,” including Figure 35, which illustrates a similarly shaped and colored vase of the same size decorated with stylized geese.

CONDITION is perfect.

Sumida Gawa wares were produced in the Akasuka region of Tokyo intersected by the Sumida Gawa (“gawa” means river), for which these ceramics were named. In 1866, Inoue Ryosai, a Seto potter, established a kiln in this district. He became renowned for the characteristic style of porcelain-bodied wares with transmutation (flambe) curtain glazes and applied figures in high relief. The earliest Sumida wares, which date from the 1870’s, have totally glazed bodies with either a flambe or splashed multi-colored glaze. Combinations of these color glazes were applied on the item in a manner that, when fired, the colors would flow forming streaked and contrasting hues. The finished splashed and flambé glaze color combinations formed curtains and droplets. Sumida ware was a hard white porcelaneous ware into the late 1920’s; production ceased in 1941. (Three similar vases are illustrated in Figures 340 to 342 on page 131 of “Sumida…According to Us” by Karp and Pond.)

CONDITION is excellent, with no losses to the delicate high relief flower.

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.

“Kraak” porcelain was the name given to Chinese export blue and white ware first produced during the Ming Dynasty. It is characterized by its busy central decoration surrounded by radiating panels. The Japanese began to produce Kraak-style porcelain in the seventeenth century.

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.

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.