Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/361

 curious than beautiful. Probably, however, the only specimens of Shidoro-yaki likely to interest Western collectors are the figure-subjects, some of which exhibit considerable plastic skill and quaintness of fancy. The amateur is likely to find a certain difficulty in distinguishing these from similarly modelled specimens of middle-period Bizen ware. The most easily identified differences are that the pâte of the Shidoro-yaki is whiter than that of the Bizen-yaki, and that the glaze of the former is generally lustreless dun-colour, resembling the skin of a ripe pear, whereas the glaze of the Bizen ware is diaphanous and nearly colourless. The surface of Shidoro stone-ware is usually mottled or roughly speckled with black. The manufacture is now carried on in Shidoro-mura by Suzuki Kanehiro. No record of former potters has been preserved.

Few Japanese wares are more deservedly appreciated by Western buyers than the modern Izumo-yaki, manufactured in the province of Izumo. It is faience, having light grey, close pâte, and yellow or straw-coloured glaze, generally without crackle. The decoration is in gold and green enamel. The designs are usually formal, and do not show remarkable skill of execution, doubtless owing to the difficulty of painting elaborately or delicately on a tender, waxlike yellow glaze such as that of the Izumo-yaki.

The manufacture of glazed pottery in Izumo commenced during the Keian era (1648–1651), but no success was attained until, some twenty-five years later (about 1676), the feudal chief of the province,