Tenkei Kacho Plate 9-sun

Ceramics

Company: Fukuju Touen

ORIGIN: Arita, Saga Prefecture
SIZE: φ270mm × H25mm
MATERIAL: Porcelain stone

Unfinished beauty

Flowers and butterflies motifs in the style of ancient blue and white porcelain lightly dance on the surface in the soft palette of Isubai glaze. Dotted on the edge is an effect called “mushikui (bug-eaten)”, which expresses the appearance of the glaze coming off. The depth of this porcelain plate is brought out by the sense of humor of the craftsman who found beauty in an unfinished expression.

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Mushikui (bug-eaten)
- Technique
Markings resembling glaze which has fallen off the rim of pottery. The word comes from its resemblance to a bug-eaten hole. It is also used as a technique to express a sense of antiquity in pottery making.
Isubai glaze
- Technique
A type of glaze made from the material which is obtained from the ash of burnt “isu” tree (Distylium racemosum). It has a higher content of lime and less iron. Used for Imari ware produced in the Edo period which is called “ko-imari”, it is characterized by its soft hues and smooth texture.
Ko-sometsuke
- Technique
Porcelain made in private kilns in Jingdezhen during the Tenkei period, in the late Ming Dynasty (first half of the 17th century). The shapes and patterns has a free and easy style compared to traditional Chinese porcelain.
Sometsuke (Blue and white porcelain)
- Technique
Decorating on biscuit under transparent glaze with a blue pigment. This pigment is known as zaffer or “gosu” in Japanese. It was first used in China in the 14th century and then spread around the world. In Japan, it was first introduced in Arita at the beginning of 17th century. The decoration methods can be broadly divided into two ways with each method using different brushes. One is drawing just the outline and the other is painting inside the outline which is called “dami” in Japanese. There are also other techniques such as “fukizumi” which creates pattern by spraying gosu on the surface resulting in a charming contrast of blue and white.

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