Page 84 - Catalogue of the Edward Morse collection of Japanese pottery MFA BOSTON

so THE CATALOGUE
individual potters who baked in a communal oven. Ninagawa, in a visit to Bizen, got
from an old antiquarian a list of these marks purporting to represent successive gener-
ations of potters. As I have had access to other lists of marks, equally authoritative,
with successive generations indicated, and as there is not the slightest accordance
between any of them, either as to name or date, they have all been rejected. A few
of the marks are always associated with the best work. The earliest forms are rough
and unsightly. The height of the art was evidently attained in the eighteenth cen-
tury ; at least specimens assigned to that period are much finer than subsequent work.
Those of the best period resemble bronze, or have a rich fawn-colored glaze with a
surface like polished wood. The modern objects made for foreign trade are usually in
the form of mythological animals or deities. These, while showing some excellence
in modeling, do not approach in merit the earlier forms of the same class. Thin
shallow plates made on a mould, usually with designs of flowers in high relief, have
been produced within thirty years. In 1864-65 an attempt was made to decorate
plates of this nature with thin colored glazes of red and green. Specimens of this
essay are distinguished only by their rarity and ugliness. With a sufficient number of
specimens for comparison, the varieties known as Migaki-te (polished) and Hidasuke
(fire cord) run into each other ; while more distinct Ao (blue) Bizen cannot be sepa-
rated from the others, as they bear marks identical with those found on typical Imbe.
Besides the conventional marks of circles, lines, etc., above mentioned, there are many
others bearing the names of potters. Whether these objects were baked in separate
or in communal ovens is not known. I can get no record of their history ; and so
all pieces bearing such marks are placed under the general name of Imbe, — a most
unsatisfactory way of classifying a large number of objects, and yet unavoidable.
372' Bowl. D. e,\ in. Thick and heavy. Dull fawn clay, thick glaze of light fawn inside
and out. Within basal ring strong spiral mark turning to left. Bowl appears moulded by
hand. 1370
Type Ninagawa. Vol. II., Fig. 29.
Ninagawa says that a document accompanying this specimen states that on the occasion
of a great storm the bowl was washed ashore near the mouth of a river in Sado, on the north-
west coast of Japan. It was found by a fisherman, who sold it to Kodama Moyemon, of
Sawami village j later it came into the possession of Ikuta Senan, and remained in the family
for two hundred years. In 1830 Haramiyama Gaho brought it to Tokyo, and
afterwards it came into the possession of Ninagawa.
373* Low JAR, for rinsings. D. 5f in. Rudely potted. Dark reddish clay, \^
glossy reddish-brown glaze, mottled with fawn. Surface roughened. 1370 ^
Type Ninagawa. Vol. II., Fig. 30.
374* Low JAR. D. 7I in. Dull red clay, thin dark red glaze, base and lower
portion mottled with fawn. Mark impressed. 1570 374
Mark impressed. O
Type Ninagawa. Vol. II., Fig. 32.
375- Water-jar. D. 7I in. Tapering sharply inward from middle to project-
ing base, and flaring rim. Upper slope with a circle of round knobs. Blackish-
red glaze, smooth and glossy. Large area of fawn. 1670
Type Ninagawa. Vol. II., Fig. 31. 375