Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/319

 same name; Kato Mokuzayemon, whose specialty lies in colossal specimens; Kato Zenji, who, on the contrary, turns out small pieces elaborately decorated; Kato Gosuke, who has succeeded in obtaining céladon glaze of considerable merit; and Kato Kansuke, who affects a species of flambé ware in which chocolate-coloured glaze predominates (locally known as Hagi-gusuri). Of late years, considerable skill has been developed in the use of colours other than blue under the glaze. Pieces thus decorated with green, red, and blue are turned out in large quantities for purposes of export. The four hamlets of Seto are indeed veritable colonies of potters. They produce more porcelain than any other factory in Japan. The chief market for their ornamental pieces is Western, from which it will be inferred that they aim rather at brilliant and decorative effects than at delicacy and purity of style. The pigment employed for decorative purposes by the Seto potters when Tamikichi inaugurated the porcelain industry, was native cobalt. This ji-egu, as it was called, existed in small quantities in the province. Its preparation entailed labour and expense out of proportion to the results obtained with it. The colour it gave was lighter, less brilliant, and not so pure as that of the Chinese potters during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. About the year 1830 the Seto artists began to substitute Chinese cobaltiferous manganese (gosu) for this ji-egu, and thenceforth the tone of their blue sous couverte became of high character, intense, full-bodied, and brilliant. From this time until about 1860, the finest specimens of blue-and-white Owari porcelain were produced. When, however, the supply of foreign markets became a prime object, European smalt came into general use. It had