Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/343

 vessels, incense-boxes, etc., so skilfully and in such quantities that the place ultimately received the name of Higashi-sara-yama, or Eastern Plate-Hill. A few years later (1716), another factory was established in the neighbourhood, under the name of Nishi-sara-yama (Western Plate-Hill). The productions of the latter were coarser and destined for commoner use than those of the former. These various changes of locality may be traced, with more or less accuracy, in the pâte of the ware. Thus, the amateur may accept it as a rule that the clay of the early period (1600-1660) Takatori-yaki is of a light grey colour (called by the Japanese nezumi-iro, or mouse-colour); that of the middle period (1660-1700), nearly white; that of the third period (1700-1800), reddish, and sometimes purplish. It will not, however, be safe to conclude that every specimen having a nearly white pâte dates from a period prior to 1700. All that can be confidently asserted is that such a pâte does not belong to an era earlier than 1660. Three varieties of clay were used by the Takatori potters. They are all found in Chikuzen, and are named after the places where they exist. No attempt has yet been made to analyse them, nor is there any record of the propor- tions in which they were mixed. Considering the qualities of the Takatori-yaki, the notice it has hitherto received at the hands of Western commentators is singularly meagre. Among specimens produced during the third period of manufacture are to be found cleverly modelled figures of mythological beings and animals, covered with lustrous variegated glazes, the general colours being grey or buff, with tints of green, chocolate brown, and sometimes blue. These have always been favourites with buyers of bric-à-brac,