Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/390

 applied internally for their more elaborate pieces, he immediately adopted that method in his own workshop, and so caused the name of Banko—for he still continued to employ Gozaemon's stamp—to be associated with the introduction of a valuable novelty in Japanese keramics. It has already been noticed that the Kyōtō artist, Mokubei, was the first to follow the Chinese example in the matter of moulds, but whereas he fashioned his clay in the mould, Yusetsu reversed the process by putting the mould inside the vase and pressing the clay with the hand into the matrix. The consequence is that his pieces carry their design on the inner as well as the outer surface, and are moreover thumb-marked. Of course a mould thus employed was necessarily constructed on principles different from those which governed the Kyōtō process. The mould of Yusetsu, instead of being simply divided into two parts, was built up of six, eight, or sometimes twelve longitudinal sections, which were withdrawn one by one after they had accomplished their purpose. The results displayed such clever modelling that they subsequently came to be regarded as representative pieces of Banko-yaki. In fact, it is through the works of Yusetsu, or rather through the methods he devised, that the Ise ware has attained the wide-spread popularity it now enjoys: nor that undeservedly, either, for some of the designs of his school exhibit a remarkable combination of artistic and technical excellence. Particularly worthy of mention are pieces ornamented with storks, dragons, and so forth, in relief, and others with clever arabesques in coloured slip on green or rich brown ground. All the Yusetsu Banko ware is faience, and the specimens are sometimes stamped "Yusetsu." Among his productions a variety