Page 86 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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24 Kenzan founded his first pottery stu- intended as a purely aesthetic object.
Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) dio, the "Hall of Quiet Learning," in The overall shape is derived from
Shallow covered bowl with pine trees and 1688 in western Kyoto just outside the lacquer writing-paper boxes.
waves design temple gates of Ninnaji. He studied
with Ninsei's son, who, when Kenzan The design is Kenzan's play on the
c. 1704-1711 moved his kiln to Narutaki Izumidani, traditional scenic spot of Hamamatsu,
Stoneware with underglaze iron oxide a few miles northwest of Omuro, known for the pines on a stretch
and cobalt blue with gold enamel of land surrounded by water. Kenzan
3
Diameter 23.8 (9 /s) in 1699, gave him a manual of secret has separated the pines from the
technical information compiled by
Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo Ninsei. It was in Narutaki that Kenzan's water. On the exterior of the box he
Important Cultural Property has painted four pines in different
style began to be formed under the
influence of his brother Kórin. Many colors — white slip, brown iron oxide,
• The ceramics of Ogata Kenzan are gold, and silver enamel — both on
thought of as highly as are those of of the pieces he fired there were the left and on the right sides, con-
Nonomura Ninsei, his stylistic mentor collaborations between the two, often necting the lid with the lower section.
signed and sealed by both (see cats.
(see cats, i - 3). The third son of a The color of the clay creates the
25, 26). Their joint projects seem to
prosperous merchant, Kenzan, with have ended in 1712 when Kenzan ground against which the pines are
his older brother Kórin, who became moved to Nijo Chojiyamachi in central set. By contrast, the interior of the
a famous painter, had a privileged Kyoto. After Kórin's death in 1716 box — the lid as well as the bowl —
childhood. Their father's textile shop Kenzan moved to Edo, where he pro- is coated in a white slip, over which
supplied clothes to the Kyoto elite of duced pottery until his death in 1743. are painted stylized waves in gold
the day, including the imperial family. and silver enamel. The waves are
Their grandfather supported the artis- Kenzan wrote a book (now in the thought to have been painted by Kórin,
tic colony established by Hon'ami Yamato Bunkakan, Nara) that reveals but without a signature it is impos-
Kóetsu (1558-1637) at Takagamine, his debt to Ninsei as well as his own sible to be certain. The isolation of the
where Kenzan spent considerable experimentation with all aspects of waves on the inside and the pines
time as a child studying ceramics ceramic manufacture. While his on the outside creates a fresh inter-
with Kóetsu's grandson Kôho. works do not have the technical mas- pretation of this classic theme.
tery of Ninsei's, his finest pieces pos- Kenzan in characteristic manner has
sess an admirable freedom of style painted a large square seal in iron
and looseness of composition.
oxide in the middle of the base of the
In the covered bowl seen here, Kenzan's bowl by which the piece can be dated
innovative design sense unifies the to the Hóei era (1704-1711). NCR
qualities of painting and clay. With its
enlarged lid, the piece could not func-
tion as a storage box and was probably