Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/368

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JAPAN

of receiving the great potter's instruction. His father, Morishima Hambei Shigeyoshi, a native of Ōsaka, adopted keramics as his profession at the instance of a Chinese potter, whose name has not been transmitted. From the time of Sakubei's arrival in Sanuki, the ware of the province—generally known as Takamatsu-yaki—underwent a marked change. It became faience after the Awata type; both the decorative subjects and the manner of their execution, in green, blue, and red enamels picked out with gold, being scarcely distinguishable from the work of the Kyōtō keramists. The pâte of the Takamatsu-yaki is, however, easily recognised, owing to its sandy character and dark colour. The glaze also is greyer and duller than that of Kyōtō faience. In 1649 Prince Yorishige conferred on Sakubei the name of Kita, by which his family was thenceforth known. The ninth representative, Kita Rihei, who flourished in the second half of the eighteenth century, enjoyed a very high reputation. He was not a scion of the Kita family, but was adopted by Iwanojo, the eighth in descent from Sakubei. Rihei spent six years in Kyōtō, where he studied under the first Dōhachi. He did not remain in the family of his adoption, and it appears to have become extinct after the death of Iwanojo. Takamatsu faience is no longer produced.

Another factory in the same province is at Nishi-katamoto. It was opened in 1803 by order of the feudal chief of the district, and was placed under the direction of Mitani Rinzo. The family of this potter had been working at Shidaura, in the same district, since 1766. Their faience, locally known as Shido-yaki, or Yashima-yaki (from the name of the old battle-field whence the clay was procured), had no

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