Page 63 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

usually red, blue, and green — were painted over the white porcelain ground, in designs of birds and
flowers or Chinese figures within a geometric frame. The second stage, particularly the aode (blue green)
Kokutani-style dishes dating to the 16505 - i66os, appears to have been derived directly from painting
sources. Many of the designs were influenced by the Kano school. The enamel colors were darker and
resembled mineral pigments used on screen painting. 20
Two examples of the first type of Kokutani-style production are a sake ewer and a classic
16505 dish, both mentioned above (cats. 8, 9). Decorating the exterior of the latter is a stylized peony
floral scroll similar to that seen on the sake ewer. The interior of the dish plays with spatial tensions
by juxtaposing the underside of a naturalistically depicted lotus leaf against a ground of twelve dif-

62 ferent geometric designs contained within concentric and interlocking diamond shapes.
Three examples of aode Kokutani-style dishes are completely covered with saturated poly-
chrome overglaze enamels. The most brilliantly colored piece (cat. 10) has a design on the interior
that superimposes chrysanthemums on a yellow geometricized floral ground, encircled by a deep green
stylized water pattern. There is tension between the naturalistically depicted motif and its geometric
ground, and the saturated colors add to the overall feeling of richness. The palette of yellow and green
appear to refer to the gold background and malachite pigment that are commonly seen in seventeenth-
century Kano screen paintings. The two other examples (cats, n, 12) use a similar style of kazari to
achieve their impact.
The change in the approach to ornament in early and later Kokutani-style porcelain reflects
changes also occurring in textile patterns and other craft media. Nagasaki Iwao writes: "In earlier styles
color was generally subordinate to pattern; with the Kanbun style [1661 -1673] the decorative function
of color came to play an important role as background, supporting the pattern and bringing it into
21
relief." These changes demonstrate not only the fluidity of design motifs but also the encompassing
nature of kazari in Japanese artistic culture.

M A T U R E Mature Edo style made its first appearance during the Enpo era (1673 -1681) and is perhaps best typified
E D O S T Y L E by designs that combine double meanings with spatial illusion. The importance of kazari as a visual
code became more pronounced as the Edo population became more discriminating. The publication of
prints, of textile design books (hinagatabon) (see fig. 2), and of illustrated fiction, humor, and parody
(kibyoshi and gesaku) helped popularize specific styles of kazari.
Perhaps one of the most striking early examples of mature Edo style is a Hizen porcelain
dish with a bold spider's web design (cat. 15). The Chinese word for "spider's web" was a homonym for
"joy descending from heaven," yet the effect here is of shattered glass or ice, with sixteen fractures
radiating from the center. The pattern is reflected in the octagonal shape of the dish, but the main
strength of the design is in the play between negative (white) and positive (blue) space. The asymmetry
2
fig.
of the design is emphasized by two rim sections that are left unglazed, which creates another dynamic Robe design published in an
between the porcelain ground and the glazing pattern. For the first time, four Japanese characters on early textile pattern book
the base of this dish indicate that the dish was made in Japan during the Enpó era. The designation of a
Japanese reign date — when previous Japanese-made porcelains bore spurious Chinese reign dates —
reveals a new national consciousness.