Sakaida Kakiemon (), or Sakaida Kizaemon (1596 — 1666) was a Japanese potter who invented the style known after him as

Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province (today, Saga Prefecture) from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards. ...

. He worked in association with Higashijima Tokue, and created the first enamelled porcelain in Japan.

Biography

Sakaida Kakiemon started his porcelain business following the fall of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

in China and the succeeding disruption of traditional Chinese

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

exports to Europe. Sakaida Kakiemon is said to have learned the enamel porcelain technique from a Chinese artisan in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

in 1643. He was the first in Japan to practice overglaze enameling (applying enamel on top of the glazing), a technique developed in China during the

Kangxi era The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. He also refined the method for producing a translucent white glaze, known as ''nigoshide''. In the Arita dialect, ''nigoshi'' describes the water used to wash rice, thereby referring to the translucent white of ''nigoshide''. In comparison with other

Arita ware is a broad term for Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island. It is also known as after the wider area of the province. This was the area where the great majorit ...

, which tends to have a bluish tinge, ''nigoshide'' has virtually no bluish cast. Kakiemon 02

The first pieces were produced in 1643, with Chinese pigments. They are also called ''ko-Imari'', as they were shipped to Europe through the harbour of

Imari is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Imari is most notable because of Imari porcelain, which is the European collectors' name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, Saga Prefecture. The porcelain w ...

. Kakiemon ware was extensively exported to Europe by the Dutch, until the Chinese industry was reestablished with the stabilization of the Qing dynasty, and the Dutch then shifted their orders to China, which started to manufacture imitations of the Japanese ware, known as "Chinese Imari". Sakaida Kakiemon's work is said to have been the probable inspiration for

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

and

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

porcelains. The most important European collections are in

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and in the

Zwinger "" () is a German word for outer ward or bailey (castle), outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the Post-classical history, post-classical and early ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Successors

The Kakiemon productions almost disappeared by the end of the 18th century, but were revived in the 20th century by his descendants. A contributing factor was the extremely low percentage of achieving perfect results with ''nigoshide''. This was due to risk of cracking from the differing contraction rates of its composite elements, namely, powdered porcelain stone from Izumiyama mountain, clay from Shirakawayama, and stone from Iwayagawachi. The main heir of the family always takes on the name ''Kakiemon''. Sakaida Kakiemon XIV (1934-2013) became a Living National Treasure. The current head Sakaida Kakiemon XV is his son and works at the family kiln in

Arita, Saga is a town located in Nishimatsuura District, Saga Prefecture, Japan. It is known for producing Arita porcelain, one of the traditional handicrafts of Japan. It also holds the largest ceramic fair in Western Japan, the Arita Ceramic Fair. This ...

Prefecture.

Notes

1615 births 1653 deaths Japanese potters {{Japan-bio-stub