Seto ware

Forms, use and context#

Porcelain was added in the early 19th century. Its dominance made 'setomono' a general Japanese word for ceramics. Two METI traditional crafts, Akazu ware (1977) and Seto sometsuke (1997), come from Seto.

Body#

Kibushi (木節) and gairome (蛙目) clays, low in iron, firing to a white body; porcelain bodies from the 19th century.⁷⁴

Glazes#

Methods#

1. Akazu forming Wheel, slab (たたら) or hand pinching; no bisque firing as a rule; 12 decoration techniques including spatula carving, stamping, combing and mishima.¹
2. Seto sometsuke Wheel, slip casting or pinching; bisque firing; underglaze painting in gosu; glazing; main firing with a soak at top temperature (ねらし) for a moist glaze.²
3. Kilns Tunnel kilns, then large ground-level kilns (大窯) and multi-chamber climbing kilns; walls of kiln furniture (窯垣) survive in the town.⁷
4. Konagaso kiln (Muromachi) Semi-subterranean kiln about 6.7 m long with six flue openings, seen as an early form of the chambered climbing kiln; finds include ash-glazed jars, bottles and tenmoku tea bowls.³

Typical objects#

Tea bowlterm: tea caddy (茶入 chaire)term: tea jar (茶壺)term: tenmoku tea bowlterm: tablewareterm: blue-and-white porcelain

Periods#

1. late 10th century – presentGlazed ceramics made in southern Seto from the late 10th century, inheriting the Sanage kiln tradition.⁶
2. 13th century – MuromachiKo-Seto: ash glaze in the 13th century, iron glaze added in the 14th (Heibonsha encyclopedia via Kotobank). Copies of Song and Yuan celadon, white and other Chinese wares; tea caddies (茶入) copying Chinese originals.⁴
3. Kamakura – MuromachiThe only glazed ware among the six kilns in this time.
4. 16th centuryShift to large above-ground kilns (大窯); wars drove many potters to Mino, which became the production centre (瀬戸山離散). Nipponica argues tea-jar production continued at Seto into the 17th century.⁴
5. Momoyama – early EdoSeto-guro, Shino, Oribe and Ki-Seto wares made (Daijisen via Kotobank). The Akazu page says Shino and Oribe techniques were established then and remain the core of Akazu ware.
6. Kan'ei era (1624-44) – EdoOfuke ware (御深井焼) fired at Nagoya Castle by potters gathered by the Owari domain.⁴
7. 1804-1807 – presentKatō Tamikichi (加藤民吉) learned porcelain making in Hizen and began porcelain at Seto; the new ware (新製) came to dominate over the old pottery (本業). Underglaze-blue sometsuke grew from this.

Kiln sites#

Ambiguities#

• Founding legend: Katō Shirozaemon Kagemasa (Tōshirō) is said to have gone to Song China in 1223 and founded a kiln in 1242. The Heibonsha encyclopedia says the basis is unknown and Mypedia says it is unconfirmed; Nipponica says it roughly fits archaeological dating; Yamakawa treats it as legend.⁴
• Start date: the Japan Heritage story says glazed ware from the late 10th century; the guidebook dates Sanage back to the 5th century and Ko-Seto from the late 12th; the Akazu page traces origins to Nara-period Sue ware; Heibonsha dates Seto white-ware production to the 11th century.⁷
• Shino, Oribe, Ki-Seto and Seto-guro bear Seto names but much Momoyama production was in Mino after the 16th-century move; the Akazu page presents Shino and Oribe as established at Akazu.⁴
• Katō Tamikichi's dates: Heibonsha gives Hizen 1804 and Seto 1807; Britannica dates his Arita study to 1807; Nipponica 1804-1807.⁴

Heritage listings#

Other recorded fields#

Other influences

• Relation: influenced Note: Encyclopedia entries say Ko-Seto copied Chinese wares and the 16th-century kilns copied Ming blue-and-white. Name: chinese imported wares (Song/Yuan celadon, white ware; Ming blue-and-white) — plain name, no single id⁴

Related#