Page 83 - Catalogue of the Edward Morse collection of Japanese pottery MFA BOSTON

PROVINCE OF BIZEN
49
369- Bowl. D. 4f in. Light fawn clay, underglaze cream-colored finely crackled. Out-
side, rich red entirely concealing underglaze. Decoration of clouds, scrolls, precious coral,
etc., finely outlined in gold. Character in light brown inside. 1854
Gift of Thomas E. Waggaman.

MIKAWACHI (Case 4)
The porcelain of this place, known as Hirado, has been celebrated for one hundred
and fifty years for its beautiful blue and white and marvelously modeled and perfo-
rated pieces.
37^- Shallow bowl. D. 5 in. White clay with reddish tinge, white glaze crackled.
Chinese figures with flags in blue. 1750
37^- Bowl. D. 4J in. Thick and heavy. Hard reddish clay, thick greenish-blue glaze
coarsely crackled. i860

PROVINCE OF BIZEN

This province produces in its hard reddish-brown pottery one of the
most characteristic types in Japan. Once recognized, it can rarely be con-
founded with the pottery of other provinces. There are many varieties,
yet a certain gradation can be seen from the earlier forms, resembling in
color an over-burned brick, to the slaty-blue, and through various shades of
red to specimens resembling bronze. The evolution of these varieties from
a primitive form can be easily traced. The old Bizen, going back six hun-
dred years or more, is rough and unsightly, being rudely potted and imper-
fectly stoved. From this rude type, with better wheels and ovens, the work
gradually improved.
The kind of objects made varies with every province. In Hizen there
is a preponderance of bowls ; in Bizen bowls are the rarest objects. In
Hizen wine-bottles are very scarce ; while in Bizen bottles of various kinds
are among the most common of objects.

IMBE (Case 5 and Plate II. 372, 385, 404)
The name Imbe, as applied to pottery, is derived from the name of the village in
which it is made. Pieces recognized under this name are made of a hard dark gray
clay, with a dark brick-red or brownish-red exterior, usually with fawn-colored spots of
overglaze, and in rarer cases completely covered with this overglaze ; in other instances
it may resemble dark bronze, or even appear quite black with glistening and roughened
surface. Such are a few of the varying features of this unique pottery. Nearly every
piece bears a mark of some kind, usually impressed. These marks are often in the
form of circles, squares, and lozenges, within which are the characters for i, 2, 3, 10,
etc., and hence called maru icki, mam ni, mani san, mam ju, etc. Pieces almost
absolutely identical will often bear different marks. These represent the work of