Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/408

 glaze was usually traversed by accidental crackle. Within the past few years, however, very great improvements have been made in the manufacture of this ware. No mean degree of technical skill has been developed. Pure, delicate colours—especially turquoise-blue and purple—are obtained; the crackle is fine and uniform, and the glazes are seldom disfigured by faults such as used formerly to be constantly apparent.

Tradition says that a factory for the manufacture of porcelain was established in the Arima district of Settsu, in 1690, by order of Kuki, feudal chief of the province. Its productions, rude faience after Korean models, attracted no attention until the end of the eighteenth century, when Kanda Sõbei, a merchant of Sanda, caused twelve kilns to be constructed at Inugahara, in the same district, and engaged experts from Kyōtō and Hizen to manufacture blue-and-white porcelain. In 1801 this same Kanda, or, according to some authorities, two potters, Uchigami and Ippei, discovered materials suitable for making céladon at Koishidani, in the neighbourhood of the factory. Thenceforth céladon became a staple article of production at Inugahara. From Kyōtō were obtained the services of Shūhei, Kumakichi, and Kamesuke, all artists of note, and with their aid the Sanda-Seiji, as the new céladon was called, justly attained great popularity. It was ware of much merit, but its bright green colour could not compare with the beautiful glazes of the old Chinese celadons, and was even inferior to the delicate tinge of the Nabeshima-Seiji, manufactured at Okawachi, in Hizen. The pâte varied from dense but