"Early Imari Ware" Exhibition

Finished

Because porcelain firing originated at the hands of Korean ceramicists, early Imari ware was produced using Korean porcelain-making techniques. However, it was the cobalt blue and white porcelain from China's Jingdezhen kilns that was in demand in Japan at the time. The gosu needed for sometsuke was imported mainly from China, and although much of early Imari ware was decorated with Chinese-style designs featuring dragons, phoenixes and motifs from ink paintings, as well as geometric patterns copied from shonzui (Ming-dynasty cobalt blue and white) ware, these latter renditions differed from the perfectly executed designs seen on Chinese porcelain; they had a certain free-spirited and serene quality that was distinct from their predecessors.
This exhibition presents a body of work from the pioneering days of Imari-yaki that reveals its Korean and Chinese influences, its distinctively Japanese characteristics, its transformations accompanying advances in porcelain-making techniques, as well as its historical context.

[Image: "Mizusashi, decorated with pine tree, bamboo and plum design in underglaze blue" (Edo period, Early 17th century) Imari ware Height: 13.8cm Diameter of mouth: 20.1×17.3cm]

Schedule

Apr 1 (Tue) 2008-Jun 22 (Sun) 2008

Opening Hours Information

Hours	10:00-17:00 Open 10:00-20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Last Admission 16:30.
Closed	Monday, Tuesday Open on a public holiday but closed on the following day. Closed during the New Year holidays and in between exhibitions.

Fee

Venue

Toguri Museum of Art
http://www.toguri-museum.or.jp