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Meiji Period Satsuma, Japanese Art Nouveau, Kinkōzan Decorative Bowl, ca. 1900

About the Item

Dimensions Height: 2.5 inches Diameter: 12.25 inches About the object This unique decorative bowl, most likely, was created at the Kinkozan workshop. Kinkozan pottery enterprise was active in the period from 1645 to 1927. Headed by Kinkozan Sobei, it exported heavily from 1875, especially to America; and was considered the largest overall producer of Satsuma export ware. About Meiji Period The Meiji period (????, Meiji-jidai), also known as the Meiji Era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 8, 1868 through July 30, 1912. About Satsuma Pottery Satsuma ware (???, Satsuma-yaki) is a type of Japanese pottery originally from Satsuma Province, southern Kyushu. Today, it can be divided into two distinct categories: the original plain dark clay early Satsuma (???, Ko-Satsuma) made in Satsuma from around 1600, and the elaborately decorated export Satsuma (???, Kyo-Satsuma) ivory-bodied pieces which began to be produced in the nineteenth century in various Japanese cities. By adapting their gilded polychromatic enamel overglaze designs to appeal to the tastes of western consumers, manufacturers of the latter made Satsuma ware one of the most recognized and profitable export products of the Meiji period. The precise origins and early innovations of Satsuma ware are somewhat obscure; however, most scholars date its appearance to the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. The Satsuma region was ripe for the development of kilns due to its access to local clay and proximity to the Korean peninsula. In 1597–1598, at the conclusion of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s incursions into Korea, Korean potters were forcefully brought to Japan to kick-start Kyushu's non-existent ceramic industry. These potters eventually mainly settled in Naeshirogawa and Tateno, which were to become the hub of the local pottery industry. Satsuma ware dating up to the first years of the Genroku era (1688–1704) is often referred to as Early Satsuma or ko-satsuma. The oldest remaining examples of Satsuma are stoneware made from iron-rich dark clay covered in dark glaze. Prior to 1790, pieces were not ornately decorated, but rather humble articles of folk-ware intended for practical everyday use in largely rustic environments or the tea ceremony. Given that they were "largely destined for use in gloomy farmhouse kitchens", potters often relied on tactile techniques such as raised relief, stamp impressions and clay carving to give pieces interest. The intense popularity of Satsuma ware outside Japan in the late nineteenth century resulted in an increase in production coupled with a decrease in quality. Collectors sought older, more refined pieces of what they erroneously referred to as early Satsuma. These were in fact simply better-quality pre-Meiji nineteenth-century pieces, works from other potteries such as Kyoto's Awata ware (???, Awata-yaki), or counterfeits. From around 1800, brocade (??, nishikide) painted decoration began to flourish, including a palette of "delicate iron-red, a glossy blue, a bluish green, a soft purple black, and a yellow very sparingly used". A slightly later innovation added painted gilding to the brocade (???, kin nishikide). The multi-colored enamel overglaze and gold were painted on delicate, ivory-bodied pieces with a finely crackled transparent glaze. The designs—often light, simple floral patterns—were highly influenced by both Kyoto pottery and the Kano school of painting, resulting in an emphasis on negative space. Many believe this came from Satsuma potters visiting Kyoto in the late seventeenth century to learn overglaze painting techniques. The first major presentation of Japanese arts and culture to the West was at Paris' Exposition Universelle in 1867, and Satsuma ware figured prominently among the items displayed. The region's governor, the daimyo, understood early the economic, prestige and political advantages of a trade relationship with the West. In order to maintain its connection with Satsuma, for example, Britain offered support to the Daimyo in the 1868 rebellion against the shogunate. The Paris Exposition showcased Satsuma's ceramics, lacquerware, wood, tea ceremony implements, bamboo wicker and textiles under Satsuma's regional banner—rather than Japan's—as a sign of the Daimyo's antipathy to the national shogunate. Following the popularity of Satsuma ware at the 1867 exhibition and its mention in Audsley and Bowes’ Keramic Art of Japan in 1875, the two major workshops producing these pieces, those headed by Boku Seikan and Chin Jukan, were joined by a number of others across Japan. "Satsuma" ceased to be a geographical marker and began to convey an aesthetic. By 1873, etsuke (???) workshops specializing in painting blank-glazed stoneware items from Satsuma had sprung up in Kobe and Yokohama. In places such as Kutani, Kyoto and Tokyo, workshops made their own blanks, eliminating any actual connection with Satsuma. From the early 1890s through the early 1920s there were more than twenty netsuke factories producing Satsuma ware, as well as a number of small, independent studios producing high-quality pieces. Eager to tap into the burgeoning foreign market, producers adapted the nishikide Satsuma model. The resulting export style demonstrated an aesthetic thought to reflect foreign tastes. Items were covered with the millefleur-like 'flowerpacked' (??, hanazume) pattern or 'filled-in painting' (?????, nuritsubushi) to the point of horror vacui. They were typically decorated with "'quaint' ... symbols such as pagodas, folding fans, or kimono-clad [females]". Pieces continued to feature floral and bird designs, but religious, mythological, landscape and genre scenes also increased. There was new interest in producing decorative pieces (okimono), such as figurines of beautiful women (bijin), animals, children and religious subjects. The palette darkened, and there was generous application of moriage (????) raised gold. The mid-1880s saw the beginning of an export slump for many Japanese goods, including Satsuma ware, linked in part to a depreciation of quality and novelty through mass production. By the 1890s, contemporary Satsuma ware had become generally denigrated by critics and collectors. It was negatively received at Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, but remained a popular export commodity into the twentieth century, becoming "virtually synonymous with Japanese ceramics" throughout the Meiji period. Satsuma ware continued to be mass-produced through the modern period, though quality declined to the point where it eventually lost interest for consumers.

Dimensions:

Height: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)Diameter: 12.25 in (31.12 cm)

Style:

Meiji (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Ceramic,Painted

Place of Origin:

Japan

Period:

1900-1909

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1900

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. We make our best effort to provide a fair and descriptive condition report. Please examine photos attentively, as they are an integral part of the description. Send us a message to request more details or discuss price.

Seller Location:

New York, NY

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU2819330254472

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