Page 79 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

12 13 H
Large dish with birds, tree, and Katabira with box, abstract snowflake Kosode with scattered flutes
waues design roundels, fans, and flowering plants
Late seventeenth century
c. 16503 1661-1673 Tie-dyeing and ink on figured
Hizen ware, aode Kokutani style Tie-dyeing, stenciled imitation silk satin
3
3
Porcelain with polychrome overglaze tie-dyeing, and silk and gold metallic 139 x 128 (54 Ax 50 /s)
enamels thread embroidery on plain-weave National Museum of Japanese History,
3
Diameter 34.9 (13 A) ramie Chiba, Nomura Collection
3
The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Saga 131 x 115.2 (5iVsx45 /8)
Tokyo National Museum • The flutes depicted on this kosode
Illustrated page 61
appear to be a type of shakuhachi
• Katabira are unlined summer kosode. known as the hitoyogiri, which emerged
78 • This beautiful dish exemplifies the Originally fabricated of silk in the during the Muromachi period. Played
second stage of Kokutani-style pro- 1
duction. The tree and birds have a Kamakura period (1185 - 333), katabira by wandering priests, these short, end-
blown bamboo flutes, with four finger
of the latter part of the Muromachi
painterly quality reminiscent of Kano- period (1392-1573) were made only holes on top and one on the under-
school screens. For emphasis, sections
of the branches and the birds' eyes of ramie (chôma), a bast fiber of the side, produced a high, sweet sound.
nettle
absorbs
family. Ramie cloth
have been left white, but everything moisture and dries quickly, making it Delineated by tie-dyed techniques
else is covered with deeply hued over- an ideal choice for garments worn (kanoko and nuishime shibori) and
glaze enamels. Yellow, green, and blue ink drawing (kakie) on a ground of
enamels are outlined with iron oxide. during Japan's hot, humid summers. figured silk satin, the flutes appear to
The number of extant dark-back- be randomly scattered over the sur-
The two birds seem to be perched in a
ground katabira from the late seven- face. Closer examination, however,
tree overlooking the water. They are teenth and early eighteenth centuries reveals the underlying format charac-
placed at the center of the dish, facing suggests that they were once very teristic of kosode from the Kanbun
each other as if courting. Together fashionable. While the dark color of era. Starting with the upper-left
with the green leaves of the tree and this katabira of plain-weave ramie shoulder area, the flutes appear to
the blue hydrangea flower at the top does not immediately suggest sum- tumble down toward the right and
of the dish, they counterbalance the mer wear, the motifs help to create a then toward the lower left. Such
rolling yellow waves that cover the cool feeling by association with the scattered yet well-balanced designs
entire left half of the composition and cold weather of autumn (chrysan- of man-made objects were popular
slant upward at the left edge in an themum and bush clover) and winter with the townsman class, particularly
additional show of movement. While
(abstract snowflake roundels). In during the middle Edo period. SST
the application of enamel is a bit addition, two folding fans on the
rough, the iron oxide line drawing of lower half of the garment hint at
the tree and the birds is exceptionally the comfort of a cool breeze.
well executed. It is possible that a
professional painter helped to draw Unlike motifs on earlier kosode, those
the design or that the pattern was here are enlarged and freed from
carefully copied from a printed book. the confines of color-defined areas,
floating instead on a vast background.
The exterior of the dish has an Located predominately on the right
abbreviated scrolling vine design. side and arranged in a dynamic
The interior of the footring is left asymmetrical composition typical of
white, covered only with a clear glaze, the Kanbun era, tie-dyed (kanoko
except for an unrecognizable symbol shibori), stenciled imitation tie-dyed
in the middle painted in black and (kata kanoko), and embroidered
green enamels. This symbol as well as (shishü) motifs form a whole design
the white areas mark this dish as an unit. Derived from both nature and
early aode piece, probably created in everyday life, the bold, easy-to-read
the first half of the 16505. NCR
objects express the vibrant taste
of the newly prosperous townsman
class (chonin). SST