264 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
«r 
Brown Banko Teapot of fine quality, flowers inlaid in translucent enamel, re- 
volving knob. Five ordinary Banko teapots. 
BANKO WARE. 
THE Japanese camiot understand the partialitj^ of Europ- 
eans and Americans for the overgilded, overdecorated 
porcelains of their country, and their entire disregard and 
neglect of banko pottery. To be esteemed by the Japanese 
connoisseur, Satsuma (for example) must show a fine and even 
crackle on its old-ivory-like surface, and little more in the way 
of decoration (if any at all) than a crest ; but the foreign buyer 
demands Satsuma with the surface completely hidden under 
many colored pastes and gorgeous with much gilding. Except 
as something astonishing^ cheap, banko is to him unknown. 
The possibility now is that very little good banko (outside of 
the museums) will ever be seen again, as the owners of the banko 
potteries in Japan are among the leading commercial spirits of 
the country, and apparently careless of everything except to 
fill their enormous orders for the foreign trade as quickly and as 
cheaply as possible. 
Banko has always been almost ignored by foreign collectors. 
Bowes speaks of it but only slightingly; j^et Miss Denton of 
Kyoto asserts that an appreciation of banko in Dai Nippon is 
an open sesame to the innermost circle of the elect, as it is held 
that only the born lover of ceramics can properly appreciate 
the charm and the art of this quaint pottery. 
It is not made of any rare kaolin, but of humble, common 
clay, and it has almost no intrinsic value, merely a great artistic 
one. But in a country like Old Japan intrinsic value was not 
paramount, the artistic possibility was enough, and simplicity 
was a quality which was worshiped. The artist-potter would 
take a sheet of the beautifulty pliable (yet tough) banko-clay 
and fashion a tea-pot, a plaque, a vase, or a bottle with his 
thumb and finger, using no wheel at all, and sometimes not even 
a spatula. He would mould and press and manipulate at will 
perhaps two penny sworth of clay, and "behold a piece worth 
the ransom of a great warrior!" Obviously, a good piece of 
banko cannot be devoid of the personal element, of the ab- 
sorbed interest and the intelligent personalitj^ of the worker, 
which is so great a charm in anj^ of the arts. 
The banko potter once took care that all finger-prints and 
indentations of the thumb-nail (necessarily made as he fashion- 
ed the object, with nianj^ pattings and pinchings, from the re- 
sponsive clay) were not obliterated. There is no doubt as to the 
charm added by these, yet there were many others, partic- 
ularly when the objects were tea-pots. 
Some were of the thinness of paper, the handles hollow, 
with exquisite patterns perforated in them, and perfectly form- 
ed rings jingling from the top; and then the knobs on the lids 
turned round and round in their hidden sockets in such a fasci- 
inating, unexplainable way. Oh! the little banko tea-pots of 
fifteen and more years ago! Where are they now? And shall 
we never see any more like them? They were unglazed, dark 
brown, or dull red, or stone gray or Idac, or white, or buff, and 
they came in all sizes that were dainty, and in all forms that 
were surprising and admirable; furthermore, they were not 
always expensive. 
But they were always beautifully made little things, with 
never a trace of this sad haste of to-day. The favorite decora- 
tion was a flight of storks in white enamel, or falling maple 
leaves in autumn colors, or many seals imprinted in the bisctiit, 
which meant, " Maj^ you live ten thousand j^ears," " A thousand 
autumns," or some other equally polite wish for a long fife. 
The ware takes its name from the seal originally stamped 
upon it, the literal translation of the seal being, " Ancient ten- 
thousand." On a tea-pot in the writer's collection, a tea-pot 
with the capacity of just four thimbles, this seal is repeated ten 
times. The seal of the pottery also appears, and heightens the 
decorative effect. 
The most common product of the potteries until within a 
few years has been tea-pots, but now (such strict attention does 
the new, commercial Japan pay to the requirements of the for- 
eign markets) every tea-pot is accompanied by a cream-pitcher 
and a sugar-bowl. Frequentlj^ (too frequently) these are made 
of very cleverl5' marbled claj^ bedight with cheap gilt, but thej^ 
have little twisted handles of wistaria stems that are charming; 
yet, because they were not understood and valued, these new 
banko pieces show never a thumb-marlc or seal, and the decora- 
tions are so weak as to be an affront to the taste of the American 
people. 
One of the most charming specimens of Ko-banko ever im- 
ported to America was an ancient brown plaque (about twelve 
inches in diameter), covered on the upper side with a gem-like 
glaze of jade-green, and decorated with a flight of storks. The 
American owner refused many desperate offers from Japanese 
banko-lovers, but finally sold it for $750. All banko is not Ko- 
banko ("the honorable antique"), but one would be satisfied 
could he occasionally find a really good modern bit. 
The brown banko, if without potter's marks, is apt to be 
confused with Bizen, yet Bizen is the hardest ware made in 
Japan, sometimes being subjected to heat for thirty consecutive 
days. It is as frail in appearance as banko, nevertheless, and 
quite as light.' The chief distinguishing mark of Bizen is that 
the decoration is usually incised. Small, undecorated pieces of 
the dull red Tokonabe ware are frequently sold for banko, but 
Tokonabe is a heavier ware, and the pieces are always shaped 
on the wheel. — From The House Beautiful, by Olive Perceval. 
PERCH, BORDER— M. P. VERNEUIL FROM "ART ET DECORATION ' 
