Awaji ware
{{short description|Type of Japanese pottery}}
{{nihongo|Awaji ware|淡路焼|Awaji-yaki}}, also known as Minpei or Mimpei ware, is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally made on Awaji Island in the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea, western Japan.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ffCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA292|title=Things Japanese|first=Basil Hall|last=Chamberlain|date=17 July 2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108073851|accessdate=12 April 2017|via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=http://www.savoryjapan.com/tableware/mimpei.html|title=History of Mimpei ware, shopping for Mimpei and its use in Japanese cuisine|work=savoryjapan.com|accessdate=12 April 2017}} Some pieces are porcelain, others described as glazed "porcelaneous ware" or "pottery".
History
Awaji ware was founded in the early 1830s by Minpei Kashu (1796–1871) {{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/tea-bowl-with-design-of-spiny-lobster-6610|title=Tea bowl with design of spiny lobster|date=18 August 2016|work=mfa.org|accessdate=12 April 2017}} (last name also spelled Mimpei) from Iga village.{{cite web|url=http://www.tklibby.com/Awaji_Pottery.html|title=Introduction to Awaji Pottery|work=tklibby.com|accessdate=12 April 2017}} Coming from a wealthy trading family, he was a scholar of classical literature and skillful in the art of chanoyu. He became concerned about the development of industrial resources in his province and devoted himself to the manufacture of ceramics, which he had studied under Ogata Shuhei (1788-1839),{{cite web|url=http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/object.php?q=fsg_F1900.98a-b&bcrumb=true|title=Open F-S: Mimpei ware powdered tea caddy (natsume)|work=si.edu|accessdate=12 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325024849/http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/object.php?q=fsg_F1900.98a-b&bcrumb=true|archive-date=25 March 2017|url-status=dead}} a famous Kyoto potter.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJLTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT224|title=Japanese and Oriental Ceramics|first=Hazel H.|last=Gorhan|date=2 October 2012|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=9781462903856|accessdate=12 April 2017|via=Google Books}} Returning to his village after his studies, he established kilns in the fifth year of Tenpō (1835/1836) and devoted his whole fortune to his enterprises.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/japanesepotteryw01bowe#page/130/|title=Japanese pottery, with notes describing the thoughts and subjects employed in its decoration, and illustrations from examples in the Bowes collection|work=archive.org|year=1890|accessdate=12 April 2017}} Some sources give an earlier founding year of 1831.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJLTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT235|title=Japanese and Oriental Ceramics|first=Hazel H.|last=Gorhan|date=2 October 2012|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=9781462903856|accessdate=12 April 2017|via=Google Books}} Lord Hachisuka of Awaji Province subsequently subsidized Minpei's manufactory and appointed him head of the workshops. Thus his efforts were successful, and his manufactory reached a prosperity such that its production equaled in value the rice harvest of the eleven surrounding villages.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/histoiredelartdu00japa/histoiredelartdu00japa#page/264/|title=Histoire de l'art du Japon;|work=archive.org|accessdate=12 April 2017}} After Minpei's death in the second year of Bunkyū (1862) his successors continued manufacturing ceramics, which became a source of wealth for the province.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/histoiredelartdu00japa/histoiredelartdu00japa#page/265|title=Histoire de l'art du Japon;|work=archive.org|accessdate=12 April 2017}}
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has nine pieces of Minpei ware in its permanent collection.{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search|title=Collection|work=metmuseum.org|accessdate=12 April 2017}}
Characteristics
Awaji ware pieces are of a white or cream-colored clay and a blue or yellow glaze, sometimes also green, sharing similarities with sancai colours. There are pieces skillfully imitating Annan ware's articles and blue and white or blue-decorated porcelains.
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Andsley, George and Bowes, James. Ceramic Art of Japan. London: Henry Sotheran and Co., 1881
- Ayers, John. The Bauer Collection of Japanese Ceramics. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1982
- Gorham, Hazel. Japanese and Oriental Ceramics. Rutland, VT and Tokyo; Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1971
- Jenyus, Soame. Japanese Pottery. London: Haber and Faber, 1971
- Morse, Edward. Catalogue of the Morse Collection of Japanese Pottery. Rutland, VT and Tokyo; Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1979
- Noguchi, Sanai. Minpeiyaki. Sumoto; Awajishima Museum, 1989
- Stiff, Irene. Japanese Ceramics of the Last 100 Years. New York; Crown Publishers, Inc., 1971
{{Japanese pottery}}