Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/244

 mirable imitations of the so-called old Kōchi-yaki (Cochin-Chinese faience). The conditions of the time were especially favourable to the development of his art. Long-continued peace had filled the coffers of the nobles, and induced those luxurious habits of life among which art products find their best market. The Court at Yedo, presided over by Iyenari, eleventh prince of the Tokugawa dynasty, set an example of brilliant extravagance to which the feudal princes were nothing loath to conform, while the now well-established custom of sending to the Shōgun yearly presents of pottery and porcelain from the various districts, had engendered a wholesome rivalry among the provincial factories. Before long Zengoro's fame attracted the attention of Harunori, feudal chief of Kishū. He invited the potter ( 1827) to his province, and there set up for him, within the precincts of the Castle Park, a kiln at which was produced the celebrated Oniwa-yaki (honourable park) ware, or Kairaku-en ware, as it is also called from the stamp it bears. It was an imitation of the Cochin-Chinese faience described above, but in richness and purity of colour it surpassed its original. Like Luca della Robbia, Zengoro made the composition and application of glazes an especial study. The works of his successors and predecessors may be searched in vain for examples of parallel perfection in this branch of keramics. His aubergine porcelain, and the rich combinations of turquoise blue, purple, and yellow shown in the glazes of his faience, amply justify the immense popularity attained by the Kairaku-en ware. A prominent place among his achievements belongs to his "Kinrande" or "Akaji-kinga," which bears the stamp "Eiraku." The idea of this porcelain was derived from the