Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/372

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

JAPAN

  1. Shimbei; died 1748.
  2. Sukehachi; died 1769.
  3. Shimbei; died 1803.
  4. Sukehachi; died 1824.
  5. Shimbei, afterwards called Kōraizaemon; died 1878.
  6. Dōsuke, the present representative.

Another centre of keramic industry in the same province is at San-no-se. Factories were opened there in 1683 by the ancestor of the present potter Shinjo Orie; in 1692 by the ancestor of the present Kurazaki Otojuro; in 1760 by the ancestor of the present Nami Hanzaemon; in 1775 by the Itakura family, and during the Temmei era (1781-1788) by Sakata Densaku, Tahara Kenji, and Yamashita Magoroku. All these artists were under the patronage of the noble family of Mori, Prince of Chōshu.

Since 1846 porcelain has been manufactured in the province of Nagato. A potter called Furuse is said to have originated its production, using materials found at Kawamagari and Ohama, in the province of Iyo, and working at Takibe. Ware of the same nature was also produced at Tagayasu by a potter named Wada, from the year 1854. It was not till 1880, however, that porcelain stone was discovered in Nagato itself, at Obata. An association called the Shōshōsha was formed in consequence of the discovery, and considerable quantities of coarse blue-and-white utensils were produced. Occasionally among the wares of this province ivory-white porcelain of some merit is found. It does not form a staple production, but is to be regarded rather as an experimental manufacture. Its pâte consists principally of stone from Amakusa.

Hagi, or Chōshiu, porcelain, manufactured with

346