Pottery in Kyushu: Beauty in Daily Life
Pottery in Kyushu: Beauty in Daily Life
Pottery ware has been a common household utensil in Japan for many centuries, and the tradition of utility and beauty has been polished over the generations by the wisdom of the people who used them everyday. The works selected for this exhibition are from the Nihon Mingeikan collection and from the private collections of Mr. M. Watanabe and Ms. K. Yoshida. On display are 200 pieses from several people's kilns of Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Imari of Saga prefecture, Onta of Oita Prefecture ,Koishibara of Fukuoka Prefecture, Shodai of Kumamoto Prefecture, Ryumonji of Kagoshima Prefecture, and Naeshirogawa, Hirasa, Tanegashima of Kagoshima Prefecture. They date back to the Edo Period , made and used by the people in daily life.
Official kilns that were financed and protected by local feudal loards also developed extensively and were highly refined in Kyushu. These kilns produced works to be presented to the central government and other feudal lords. So different are the works in quality and function. Yanagi Soetsu, founder of Mingei and this museum, found a functional, healthy beauty that was born out of necessity in works produced in the people's kilns. Each kiln has a characteristic of its own: Karatsu has a tradition heavily influenced by korean pottery;Imari was the largest porcelain manufacturng center in Kyushu, also well-known for its exports; British potter Vernard Leach was dearly fond of Onta, where many of his large plates were made and he taught the "Leach handle" for water ppitchers in return; Ryumonji created the san-sai drip glaze; Naeshirogawa developed the outstanding thick black iron glaze called "Kuromon"; and Tanegashima produced Yakishime works.
Imari (Japanese)
Onta(Japanese)
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