Oxford Oriental Monographs
1 total work
This volume documents the porcelain pieces made in Japan in the first half of the 17th century, an era that encompasses the origins of the Japanese porcelain industry and the time of the export trade to Europe and the Near East. The book also offers a comprehensive reconstruction of the working practices of Japanese potters in the 17th century, assessing the individual kilns of Arita, where the porcelain was made, and looking at the workshop methods of today in order to throw light on possible 17th-century conditions. There are many photographs of fine examples, as well as of kiln-damaged pieces retrieved from kiln-sites, to show which kilns were working when producing which type of porcelain within the genre. The author thus demonstrates that the problematic porcelain of Old Kutani is nearly all of Arita manufacture.