WLA haa Dish Mukozuke attributed to Ogata Kenzan retouch

is a type of

Japanese pottery , is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Kilns have produced earthenware, pottery, stoneware, glazed pottery, glazed stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptional ...

traditionally from

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

. It is therefore also known as ''Kyoto ware''.

History

Pottery in Kyoto dates back to the late 5th century. In the 17th century, Nonomura Ninsei set up a kiln opposite the

Ninna-ji is the head temple of the Omuro school of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. Located in western Kyoto, Japan, it was first founded in AD 888 by Emperor Uda, and was later reconstructed in the 17th century. It is part of the Historic Monuments of A ...

. He established a specific style of Kyō ware. Clay that was suitable for the production of

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 main ...

was not easily available in the region. The potters of Kyoto therefore had to concentrate on developing elegant forms and originality. In the 17th century, Kyō ware and

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

had a close relationship. The use of China instead of earthenware became more popular. In 1771 Kiyomizu Rokubei I opened his own studio in the Gojōzaka district of Kyoto, near Kiyomizu-dera. The Gojōzaka district near Kiyomizu has a large Chinaware market with around 400 shops, which makes it one of the largest in Japan. Every summer a large market is held which sells Kyō ware. A contemporary artist is Nanzan Ito.

Characteristics

The term Kyō ware is more of an

umbrella term In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In othe ...

to describe a wide variety of styles that were produced in Kyoto. One of the more known styles is the one with distinctive design and flamboyant colouring. The pigments contain large amounts of glass. The colours are vivid and seem transparent. Not a wide range of colours are used for one vessel, but the aim is to use the right one to suit the design. The pieces are then fired in the kiln at a low temperature. There is one kind of Kyō ware which is very delicate and fine and less than a millimetre thick, which makes it translucent against light. Kiyomizu ware is a subcategory and refers to products traditionally made in the direct vicinity of Kiyomizu temple. Rengetsu ware in contrast has a very rustic look, is however also considered a subcategory of Kyō ware.

External links

Kyoto Ceramic Center
(In Japanese)

(In Japanese)
Kyo-yaki at Britannica.com
Culture in Kyoto Prefecture Japanese pottery {{japan-art-stub