Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/378

 and brilliant, though neither could rival the exquisitely delicate canary-yellow and apple-green of China. He was able to manufacture ware having a rich uniform yellow glaze with reserved designs in green, or green and white. He used gold and silver for decorative purposes with the greatest skill. His modelling was spirited and exact. His designs were chaste and well executed. He had, indeed, built up an industry destined to raise Awaji to a high place among the keramic centres of Japan. In 1842 his kiln was honoured by a visit from Hachisuka, whose fief included the island of Awaji, and an official factory was opened and placed under Mimpei's superintendence. But in 1856 Tsunezaemon died, and six years later (1862) Mimpei himself contracted a disease that obliged him to abandon the industry. He survived until 1870, but took no active part in the work, abandoning it entirely to his nephew Sampei, son of Tsunezaemon, his pupil Keyakida Zenjiro, and his son Rikitaro. The last, however, being a confirmed invalid, was soon compelled to retire. An additional factory was opened at Sumoto, in 1883, by Tamura Kyuhei. Awaji-yaki, or Mimpe-yaki as it is sometimes called, commands a fair market. The rich yellow and green glazes, relieved by incised designs, are well suited for plates, dishes, cake-boxes, and other table utensils. The works of the present potters are palpably inferior to those of Mimpei himself.

Speaking generally, the Awaji-yaki may be classed under two heads. The first sort has strongly baked biscuit, varying from stone-ware to porcelain, which is glazed with an easily fusible mixture of sand and oxide of lead. The addition of oxide of copper, or of naturally coloured clays, imparts to the glaze a