CERAMICS. 463 



resonant porcelain and stone-ware, and Tsuchi-yaki for softer 

 earthenwares, however, are known and accepted everywhere. 

 Porcelain decorated under glaze with cobalt is called Some-tsuke, 

 and as it has been manufactured in quantities for household pur- 

 poses for several centuries at Seto in Owari, Seto-mono has be- 

 come the name not only for this special kind, but also for all blue 

 decorated porcelain. This blue cobalt colour is the oldest in 

 Japan as in China, and the most popular, as a glance in any 

 porcelain shop will show. (Concerning its production at Seto, 

 see p. 308.) 



The finer ceramics of Japan present many very interesting 

 features. The manufacture is not limited, as in China, to a single 

 district, but has a number of centres, corresponding to the distri- 

 tribution of the valuable and various raw materials, each of which 

 is distinguished by peculiarities of material and production. More- 

 over, while it is very meagrely furnished with apparatus and proper 

 mechanical aids, its wonderful products show an astonishing de- 

 velopment. It furnishes egg-shell porcelain of unexcelled fineness 

 and purity, and oftentimes vases and fiower-pots so large and 

 strong, that the largest European specimens of the kind seem mere 

 dwarfs in comparison. The manufacture of stone-ware is not so 

 remarkable in its work. 



It may be generally understood that the Japanese potter as a 

 rule does not lay so much stress on the careful preparation and 

 formation of the material as on the adornment of his wares. 

 Quality, as has been said by M. Bing, is a matter of secondary 

 importance.^ He therefore employs not only the usual modes of 

 decoration both over and under glaze, but has successfully brought 

 lacquer painting and cell-enamelling to bear upon porcelain and 

 crockery. In the polychromatic ornamentation of his wares, his 

 great talents and sense of harmonious and pleasing colour- com- 

 binations are especially conspicuous ; they surpass those of other 

 nations. In this respect, his former masters, the Chinese, fall far 

 behind him. The Chinese have more brilliant and lively colours 

 at their command in porcelain painting, but they do not often 

 understand how to combine them effectively, and their efforts in 

 ceramics, as in other departments, have declined, during the last 

 few decades, with their taste for the fine arts. The Japanese, on 

 the contrary, has not rested and rusted. The great amount of 

 incitement and instruction which he has had during the last twenty 

 years in the International Exhibitions and from educated foreigners 

 in Japan, have not been lost upon him. His progress, which has 

 been already noted in Metal Industry, is unmistakable in ceramics 

 also. And in remarking upon this, it seems but fair also to 

 mention the name of Dr. G. Wagener as one who, more than any 

 other foreigner, has been able to promote art industry in Japan by 

 his knowledge and practical advice. I found the traces of his 

 ^ In "L'Art Japonais,"' par L. Gonse, chap. ix. La Ceramique, vol. ii. p. 242. 



