Sakaida Kakiemon

Kakiemon I.

Kakiemon bowl

Sakaida Kakiemon (I.) ( Japanese 酒井 田 柿 右衛門 ; born November 15, 1596 ; died July 20, 1666 ) was the founder of the manufacture of colored porcelain in a new style in the early Edo period , which then got his name. His successors also called and still call themselves Kakiemon to this day .

life and work

The Sakaida were originally a branch of the wealthy Kōzuma family in Yame County in Chikugo Province (now Fukuoka Prefecture ). Around 1468 they moved to Sakaida and from then on they used the place name as a family name. According to the family genealogy, Kakiemon's father Sakaida Ensei ( 酒井 田 円 西 ) was born in 1573. He and his son moved to Nangawara in Arita County in the neighboring Saga Prefecture . At the age of 19 he started making porcelain under the guidance of his father.

Sakaida Kakiemon then took part in the operation of a kiln in Arita for the production of white porcelain. He worked for a while under the potter Takahara Goroshichi, who had recognized his talent. - Kakiemon's special achievement was, on the one hand, the development of a glaze and, in particular, the discovery of a particularly red-flammable color; on the other hand, based on Chinese porcelain at the time of Emperor Kangxi, he introduced a loose, colorfully designed image design that differs from the heavy patterns significantly different from earlier porcelains. Kakiemon developed this design with a certain Gosu Gombei. He had received information from a Chinese in Nagasaki whom he had met through a merchant in the nearby port city of Imari .

Kakiemon showed his newly created porcelain to Prince Nabeshima, who resided in the city of Saga . He was the first to export porcelain to Europe. - Kakiemon's activity is recorded in two records, which are owned by the family and have the titles: "Memories" ( 覚 え , oboe ) and "Memories of the manufacture" ( 申 し 上 げ 工場 覚 え , Mōshiage kōjō oboe ).

The further development

After the first kakiemon left, the production of porcelain seems to have come to a standstill. Later, however, production was resumed, whereby the artistic quality is assessed differently. Kakiemon IV (1641–1679) is said not to have come close to Kakiemon I, his pieces are said to be coarser. Under Kakiemon VI. (1690–1735), and under Shibuemon, the younger brother of Kakiemon V, whom he sponsored, better products were made again. There was now richer design again, more luminous paint application, and geometric patterns were introduced. - Dated products are only available for the period from 1695 to 1699. - After 1735 there was another decline. Present is Kakiemon XV. active.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Sakaida Kakiemon . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Laurance P. Roberts: Kakiemon . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists . Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

See also

• Kakiemon porcelain

Web links

Commons : Kakiemon Porcelain  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 柿 右衛門 襲 名 へ 酒井 田 浩 さ ん イ ン タ ビ ュ ー . In: Saga Shimbun. January 31, 2014, accessed November 25, 2017 (Japanese). 

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Sakaida is the family name, Kakiemon the first name.