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  • Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain. by Andrew L. Maske
  • Clare Pollard (bio)
Potters and Patrons in Edo Period Japan: Takatori Ware and the Kuroda Domain. By Andrew L. Maske. Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey, 2011. xxii 273 pages. $119.95.

This welcome and important book traces the development of Takatori ware, a type of glazed stoneware made in northern Kyushu since the early seventeenth century. As official potters for the Kuroda daimyō, nine generations of Takatori potters created tea wares and other highly refined ceramics for the collections of ruling-class elites throughout Japan. Takatori ware is relatively little known except among practitioners of the tea ceremony and ceramic connoisseurs in Japan and has long been overshadowed by the larger output of the neighboring production centers of Arita and Karatsu. However, author Andrew Maske argues that it deserves to win wider recognition, not just for its aesthetic and technical qualities but also for its almost unrivaled continuity of tradition and unusually rich documentation, which includes a wide range of archival and archaeological sources as well as a large body of sherds and surviving pieces. These sources are all meticulously investigated in this book, the first full volume dedicated to Takatori ware either in English or in Japanese, and Maske skillfully weaves them together to bring to life the fascinating story of the developing pottery and the remarkable family of potters who ran it. At the same time, the detailed scholarly analysis is used to illuminate the broader historical context, resulting in a book that makes a valuable contribution not just to the field of Japanese ceramic history but also to the history of the tea ceremony and to the study of trade and urban development and of Tokugawa political history.

Potters and Patrons begins with a chronological account of the historical background to Takatori ware at its seven successive kiln sites. This is followed by a discussion of changing production and stylistic developments: Takatori ceramics changed dramatically over the course of the Edo period in response to new developments in aesthetic taste, to economic factors, and to changing perceptions about the role of a han-controlled kiln. Stylistic changes and likely influences are explored via a thorough survey of the surviving corpus of Takatori ceramics, with descriptions of the basic materials and object types at each of the Takatori kilns. The author points out that the traditional focus on two main styles, “ko-Takatori” (“Old Takatori,” wares made at Takatoriyama, Uchigaso, and Yamada kilns) and “Enshū Takatori” (wares made at the Shirahatayama, Tsuzumi, Oganotani, and Higashiyama kilns), is actually a misleading oversimplification. The book’s focus then narrows to concentrate specifically on tea caddies, the most highly treasured of all tea utensils and the most highly regarded product of the Takatori [End Page 407] workshops. Previous literature on Takatori ware has focused almost entirely on the tea wares made for the han elite and has largely ignored its wider consumption. The author broadens the scope of his investigation here, examining not just tea diary entries or lists of past owners of famous tea caddies but also sources related to those wares not made for direct use by han elites.

The first Takatori potters (Palsan, known in Japan as Hachizō, and his father-in-law, Shinkurō) were brought from Korea around the time of Hideyoshi’s Korean invasions by the daimyō of Chikuzen Province, Kuroda Nagamasa. Whether the potters came willingly or as captives is not known. Their wares took their name from Takatoriyama, the site of the first kiln, founded around 1600. The early production of Takatori coincided with a period of great changes to Japanese government and society, when daimyō sought to enhance their authority through art and architecture and to consolidate their positions through the exploitation of potential sources of revenue. Maske shows clearly how the founding of the Takatori kiln served both of these objectives for the Kuroda han.

The first Takatori wares were relatively crude ceramics, made of lowquality clay in a rudimentary kiln, but within a few years the pottery had moved, a large and sophisticated climbing kiln had been built, and tremendous changes in ceramic style...

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