August, 19 2 2 
39 
Blue and white Imari comes in a diversity o] forms. In this group one finds a medicine or seal box in three sections, 
a saki cup stand with pine, bamboo and plum design in the pierced work, a square saki cup stand and a number of 
other pieces. These belong to the group known as Nabeshima ware 
Japanese potter, Toshiro of Seto had, about 
the year 1230, succeeded in producing a 
good glazed pottery after his trip to China, 
where he learned the secrets of the Chinese 
faience, but it was not until after the year 
1513 that Gorodayu Shonsui succeeded in 
making a passable porcelain imitation of the 
Chinese ware of the Ming period. However, 
porcelain-making in Japan lagged deplor¬ 
ably until after the Japanese invasion of 
Korea at the end of the 15th Century. Then 
the returning victors brought 
where Shonsui had settled down, this Jap¬ 
anese investigator did not succeed in discov¬ 
ering materials suitable for his wares, and 
probably such as he produced were made of 
earths imported for the purpose from China. 
It appears to have remained for one of the 
Koreans, Risampi, to discover in the de¬ 
composed trachytic rocks abounding in Kiu- 
siu an earth which seemed to be equal to 
the Chinese kaolin used in porcelain manu¬ 
facture. There in the Province of Hizen, in 
this most westerly island of the main group 
proper, earths were found in abundance, 
particularly at Idzumiyama, and there pot¬ 
tery and porcelain kilns sprang up shortly, 
Two natives of Imari, the potters Tokuzaye- 
mon and Kakiyemon, share honors for the 
discoveries made which led to the glazes of 
these first Hizen porcelains. Their wares 
followed the Ming style in decoration. 
In this connection it is important to bear 
in mind that the development of porcelain¬ 
making in the Japanese Province of Hizen 
with them into Japan numerous 
Korean artists and craftsmen, 
many master-potters among 
these. S t r an gely enough, al¬ 
though earths suitable to porce¬ 
lain manufacture abounded in 
the vicinity of the very place 
{Below) Placque with land 
and sea scape, deep bowl with 
phoenix, pomegranate and tor¬ 
toise decorations and a placque 
with pine decorations are in 
this group 
witnessed the activities of the Portuguese 
and the Dutch commercial relations with 
Japan. Three Portuguese voyaging by junk 
from Spain to Macao were driven out of 
their course by adverse winds and landed on 
the coast of the “hitherto unknown land” of 
(Continued on page 82) 
The sixteen- 
p e t a l K ik u 
crest of the 
Japanese Em¬ 
peror, forbid¬ 
den to imitate 
on early Imari 
for export; be¬ 
low it are other 
Imari porcelain 
marks 
The pierced blue and white Imari composes a distinct group. In the 
examples below are found—reading from left to right—a saki cup 
stand, bowl, covered sweet-meat box with tortoise knob and two other 
stands for saki cups 
{Below) Conventionalized 
pine, bamboo, plum and peony 
are found in one of the 
placques. The other depicts a 
carp ascending a waterfall 
