Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/382

 of sand and oxide of lead, with the addition of naturally coloured clays or copper oxide. Some are finely crackled; others have only accidental crackle, or are entirely free from this feature.

This is a ware produced at Minato, in the province of Izumi. The factory is of considerable antiquity. In the days of Sen no Rikiu (1580) it was celebrated for ash-holders—used at Tea Ceremonials—of unglazed pottery, brittle, and yellowish in colour. By some authorities pottery is said to have been manu- factured at Minato from the time of the priest Gyōgi (eighth century). Towards the close of the seventeenth century (1673-1690) an expert called Ueda Kichizaemon acquired a wide reputation. By him the use of thin, mottled glazes—yellow ochre and claret colour—was introduced, and great plastic skill was developed. During the Bunsei era (1828-1829) Kichizaemon, fifth in descent from Ueda, began successfully to copy the faience of Raku and so-called "Cochin-China." Thenceforth are found green, yellow, claret, amber-brown, and salmon glazes. Some specimens of this nature may readily be mistaken for Awaji-yaki. The pâte of the Minato-yaki is, in good examples, very fine, tolerably hard, and of light grey colour. In pieces of comparatively modern manufacture and inferior technique, the clay is coarser and darker, covered generally with impure grass-green glaze. Examples of the old Minato-faience are exceedingly rare. They generally show remarkable plastic skill: not such skill as that displayed in the delicate lines and softly rounded contours of Ao-Bizen