Simon Fraser University
From the SelectedWorks of Douglas Ross
2012
Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century
Japanese Domestic Wares from British Columbia
Douglas Ross, Simon Fraser University
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/douglas_ross/8/
Figure 1 Japanese towns and cities
mentioned in the text.
hokkaido
J A P A N
honshu
Aizu-Hongo
Kutani
Tokyo
Tajimi
Nagoya
Arita
Tobe
shikoku
kyushu
2
douglas e. ross
Douglas E. Ross
Late-Nineteenthand EarlyTwentieth-Century
Japanese Domestic
Wares from British
Columbia
▼ U N L I K E D O M E S T I C Chinese ceramics recovered from
late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century archaeological sites in North
America, very little has been published on contemporary Japanese wares.
Archaeologists, art historians, and collectors generally write about earlier
periods in Japanese ceramic history; most of the remainder focus on folk
pottery, export wares, and museum-quality pieces. However, a handful of
archaeologists and collectors have begun to turn their attention to more
recently manufactured porcelain vessels produced for domestic use in
Japan, which are found in large quantities at Japanese sites in North America
and elsewhere. Recent excavation of a large group of Japanese domestic
porcelain from an early-twentieth-century fishing camp on tiny Don
Island, along the Fraser River in British Columbia, provides an opportunity
to synthesize and refine existing knowledge of the production, design,
marketing, and use of these too rarely studied wares.
The site, located about twelve miles (20 kilometers) southeast of downtown Vancouver, is associated with an industrial salmon cannery (the
Ewen Cannery, 1885–1930) and was founded in 1901 by Japanese entrepreneur Jinsaburo Oikawa. At its peak, the community comprised seventy to
one hundred Japanese bachelors and families, but dispersed shortly after
the cannery closed in 1930. Excavations were conducted in 2005 and 2006
as part of a research project comparing the domestic material lives of
Japanese community members on Don Island with residents of the Chinese bunkhouse located adjacent to the canning complex on neighboring
Lion Island.1
Japanese Porcelain in the Tokugawa Period
Japanese porcelain production began at Arita in Saga prefecture (formerly
Hizen province) at the outset of the seventeenth century (fig. 1).2 Known
as “Imari,” domestic porcelain was largely hand painted—often adapting
Chinese techniques and motifs—in underglaze cobalt blue (sometsuke),
although green celadon glazes and such overglaze enameled colors as red,
green, and black were also used. Imari porcelain reached Europe via Portuguese and Dutch merchants, but trade declined in the mid-eighteenth
century, when cheap Chinese alternatives lured European traders away
from Japan.3 Arita was the focal point of porcelain production until the
early nineteenth century, when it spread to other parts of the country with
suitable clay deposits, each potting center lending its name to particular
wares.4 Initially, porcelain was used exclusively by the ruling elite, but
3
japanese domestic wares
archaeological evidence indicates that by the late eighteenth century the
general population of Edo (Tokyo) had begun to prefer it to earthenware
and stoneware. Porcelain production for general consumption began circa
1820–1830. These porcelain wares increased in popularity as they became
more available and aVordable as manufacturing expanded.5
Impact of the Meiji Restoration
Many technological and decorative features of porcelain vessels from Don
Island were introduced during the Meiji period (1868–1912). Since the
1630s, the previous Tokugawa shogunate had forbidden most Japanese
from traveling abroad and excluded all foreigners except a small number of
traders received at strategically located peripheral ports. In 1868 political
instability, linked to the forced opening of trade relations with the United
States and Europe in the 1850s, led to the deposition of the shogun, a
return to imperial rule, and a move toward representative government.
During its isolation, Japan had fallen behind Western nations technologically and economically, and modernization in emulation of them was promoted as a way to strengthen the foundations of the new government and
make Japan competitive in the global marketplace. To foster industrialization, Meiji leaders sent students abroad and brought to Japan foreign specialists in various fields of science and technology.
Among the developments were innovations in glaze and pigment technologies; introduction of machinery used in clay preparation; methods of
slip casting; coal-fired kilns; and new decorating techniques (table 1). German chemist Gottfried Wagener was instrumental in developing the science
of clays and glazes in Japan, but one of his most significant achievements
was replacing natural cobalt (gosu) with chemically produced cobalt oxide
imported from Europe and America, which had a brighter and more
intense color than the gray-blue gosu. Most changes served the Japanese
government’s interest in promoting mass production and standardization
of ceramics as a means to fuel international demand for cheap export
ceramics. After Japan opened to foreign trade in the 1850s, companies
began in earnest to mass-produce and export decorative vessels and
Western-style tableware decorated in combinations of Asian and Western
art styles.6 Alongside technological innovation was reorganization of production. During the Tokugawa period, most ceramics were produced in
small workshops operated by families or masters and apprentices. In the
Meiji period, rural workshops were increasingly replaced by large urban
companies that employed more than a hundred workers and mass-produced cheaper wares using an assembly-line approach that included reference to standardized pattern books. Driven by the export economy, such
developments also aVected production for the domestic market, although
traditional domestic wares continued to be produced.7
4
douglas e. ross
table 1
Technological Changes in Japanese Porcelain Production
Date
Development
References
1869
Arita begins using cobalt oxide for underglaze blue decoration
Gorham 1971, p. 107; Stitt 1974, p. 44;
Pollard 2002, pp. 54–55; Jahn 2004, p. 113
1870
Arita begins using coal-fired kilns
Gorham 1971, p. 107; Jahn 2004, p. 113
1872–1874
Seto begins using cobalt oxide for underglaze blue decoration
Pollard 2002, p. 57; Jahn 2004, p. 222
ca. 1874
Potters in Arita, Kyoto, and Tokyo begin using plaster casting;
Seto begins using plaster casting and coal-fired kilns
Gorham 1971, p. 107; Jahn 2004, p. 113
ca. 1875
Decoration with paper stencils is reinvented in Arita
Tajimi 1997, pp. 5–6
ca. 1875–1876
Underglaze chrome green and shoenji (gold-based pink)
appear on Arita and Seto wares
Pollard 2002, p. 57; Jahn 2004, pp. 83, 122
1878–1882
Stencil wares reach Mino and become popular throughout
Japan
Tajimi 1997, p. 6
ca. 1885–1886
Imported cobalt oxide almost totally replaces local and Chinese
gosu for underglaze blue decoration
Pollard 2002, p. 57
1888
Transfer printing is developed in Mino province
Tajimi 1997, pp. 5–6
1880s
Underglaze black, yellow, and brown are developed in Japan
Jahn 2004, p. 122
1891
U.S. McKinley TariV Act requires imports be marked with
country of origin in English; beginning of “Nippon” period
Van Patten 1979, pp. 9, 26
1890s
Geisha Girl pattern is introduced at Kutani
Litts 1988, p. 11
1902
Coal-fired kilns become widely used in Japanese porcelain
production
Jahn 2004, p. 113
1910–1915
White and yellow enamels are introduced on Geisha Girl
porcelain as less expensive alternative to gold highlights
(although use of gold continues)
Litts 1988, pp. 16–17
1914
A. A. Vantine & Co. in U.S. advertises Phoenix Bird Pattern
Van Patten 1986, p. 60
ca. 1915
Japanese potters begin using jiggers
Stitt 1974, p. 44
1915–1920
“Snake eye” foot is discontinued in Japan
Bibb 1997, p. 4; Bibb 2001, p. 6
1916
Noritake Company of Nagoya produces its first Phoenix pattern
Costello et al. 2001, p. 33
Late 1910s
Pine-green, blue-green, and turquoise borders are introduced
on Geisha Girl porcelain
Litts 1988, p. 11
1921
U.S. Treasury Decision 38642 requires “Japan” rather than
“Nippon” be marked on import wares
Van Patten 1979, pp. 27–28
ca. 1920
Stenciling falls out of fashion in Japan
Tajimi 1997, p. 6
Late 1920s
Pale cobalt-blue borders are introduced on Geisha Girl porcelain
Litts 1988, p. 11
ca. 1946
Black borders are introduced on Geisha Girl porcelain
Litts 1988, p. 11
5
japanese domestic wares
(Table 1 cont’d)
References
Bibb 1997
Leland E. Bibb, “Japanese Ceramics from the Home Avenue Dump, San Diego, California” (1997;
unpublished ms. in possession of the author, corrected and rev. 2006).
Bibb 2001
Leland E. Bibb, “Japanese Stencilwares of the Meiji and Taisho Eras,” Asian American Comparative
Collection Newsletter (Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Idaho) 18 (2001): 5–6.
Costello et al. 2001
Julia G. Costello, Judith Marvin, Scott Baker, and Leland E. Bibb, “Historic Study Report for Three
Historic-Period Resources on the Golf Club Rehabilitation Project on U.S. 395 near Bishop, Inyo
County, California” (Bishop, Calif.: Report prepared for Department of Transportation by Foothill
Resources, Ltd., 2001).
Gorham 1971
Hazel Gorham, Japanese and Oriental Ceramics (Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1971).
Jahn 2004
Gisela Jahn, Meiji Ceramics: The Art of Japanese Export Porcelain and Satsuma Ware, 1868–1912 (Stuttgart:
Arnoldsche, 2004).
Litts 1988
Elyce Litts, The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Geisha Girl Porcelain (Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 1988).
Pollard 2002
Clare Pollard, Master Potter of Meiji Japan: Makuzu Kozan (1842–1916) and His Workshop (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002).
Stitt 1974
Irene Stitt, Japanese Ceramics of the Last 100 Years (New York: Crown, 1974).
Tajimi 1997
Tajimi (The City of Tajimi, Japan), “Mino-yaki no Inban—Suri-e—Doban Inban [Mino’s engraved
wares: Stencil and transfer printed],” Mino-yaki Tajimi Newsletter 2 (1997).
Van Patten 1979
Joan F. Van Patten, The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Nippon Porcelain (Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 1979).
Van Patten 1986
Joan F. Van Patten, ed., The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Nippon Porcelain, Third Series (Paducah, Ky.:
Collector Books, 1986).
table 2
Decoration on Don Island Ceramics
Decoration
Transfer print
Stencil (katagami)
Painted1
Transfer and painted
Green glaze2
Clear colorless glaze
Stencil (fukizumi)
Fukizumi and painted
Brown glaze3
Total
Sherds
Vessels
437
715
282
33
30
201
15
14
11
97
92
72
8
8
7
4
4
2
1,738
294
1
Twelve vessels also have resist decoration.
Japanese celadon (seiji).
3 Suribachi.
2
6
douglas e. ross
Figure 2 Bowl, Japan, ca. 1870. Porcelain. D. 4E÷*". Blue fukizumi stencil design
of cherry blossoms. (All objects courtesy
of the author; unless otherwise noted, all
photos by the author.)
Porcelain Decoration during the Meiji Period
Stencil Wares
Although there was continuity between the Tokugawa and Meiji periods in
porcelain decoration, producers were keen to adopt techniques such as
printing (inban) to facilitate mass production and reduce costs. One printing method was stenciling (surie), in which paper stencils were placed over
the vessel to guide application of decoration. There were two primary types
of stenciling, fukizumi and katagami (figs. 2, 3). Fukizumi is a negative, or
masking, method in which paper stencils are held against a vessel to block
pigment; the pigment is sprayed or spattered around the perimeter, creating a characteristic speckled outline. Katagami employs a positive stencil,
with pigment allowed to pass through holes in the paper. Both methods
were used in the seventeenth century but were largely abandoned by the
end of the eighteenth century.8
Figure 3 Bowl, Japan, 1875–1920. Porcelain. D. 4T÷*". Blue katagami stencil design
of cherry blossoms.
Stenciling was reinvented in Hizen province in the early 1870s but was
quickly adopted in Tobe, from where it was passed on to Mino province
(part of modern Gifu prefecture) between 1878 and 1882 and then to other
porcelain centers across Japan.9 The dominant method was katagami,
although fukizumi decoration has been found at sites in North America,
including Don Island (table 2). Unique characteristics of the application
process make katagami designs easily distinguishable from hand-painted
and transfer-printed wares. In order for the stencil paper to hold together,
patterns must be created using a series of dots, short parallel lines, or
dashed outlines, and multiple stencils are often required for a single vessel.10
Unlike most Tokugawa examples, many late-nineteenth-century vessels
exhibit evidence of careless application of stencils, including smeared
pigment, overlapping designs, and unevenly applied color. In fact, all decorative styles from Don Island are variable in terms of the care and skill
with which decoration was applied, suggesting that most were cheap,
mass-produced wares.
7
japanese domestic wares
Figure 4 Pickle dish, Japan, 1890–1920.
Porcelain. D. 5QT÷!^". Blue transfer-printed
design of pine, plum, and bamboo in
reserve panels with a central peony medallion. Panels are separated by diaper patterns of stylized fish roe, fish scales, waves,
and the Seven Jewels motif.
Transfer-Printed Wares
The other printing method used widely in Japan in the Meiji period was
transfer printing (doban or doban tensha). It was invented in England in the
mid-eighteenth century and was first applied to porcelain by 1760.11 Dutch
traders brought English and Dutch transfer-printed wares to Japan in the
late Tokugawa period, but attempts to copy them were unsuccessful.12 It
was not until 1888 that potters in the city of Tajimi learned how to make
copperplates from workers in the textile dyeing trade in the nearby city of
Nagoya, and the next year they patented a method for printing ceramics.
Shortly thereafter, transfer printing spread to other major ceramic centers
in Japan, including Arita and Tobe. By the Taisho period (1912–1926), this
technique had eclipsed stenciling on mass-produced domestic porcelain,
and by circa 1920, katagami had disappeared from the market. Most underglaze stencil- and transfer-printed designs on Japanese porcelain were executed in blue because of the diYculty in developing other colors that could
withstand the high firing temperature required for vitreous wares (fig. 4).
Japanese potters were able to overcome this limitation in the 1870s and
1880s, and later transfer wares included underglaze green, pink, black,
yellow, and brown (fig. 5).13
Figure 5 Teacup, Japan, ca. 1890. Porcelain. D. 3". Blue and pink transfer-printed
design of a plum tree.
Figure 6 Rice-bowl lid, Japan, ca. 1870.
Porcelain. D. 3QT÷!^". Blue painted design of
crossed bamboo stalks.
Other Decoration Methods
Stenciling, transfer printing, and hand painting (fig. 6) are the most common decorative techniques found on Japanese ceramics recovered from
North American sites, and transfer printing and painting commonly occur
together. Other techniques found on porcelain vessels from Don Island
include resist and kasuri-mon, along with molding, incising, colored glazing, and blue and brown washes (figs. 7–11). Resist methods were used
from the early Tokugawa period and involve painting designs on a vessel in
India ink, over which a wash of cobalt blue is applied.14 When the porcelain is fired, the carbon oxidizes and removes most of the overlying cobalt,
leaving white lines in its place. These lines serve to outline drawings, add
texture to flowing water, create veins in foliage, and produce geometric
designs on a dark background. Resist designs occur in the Don Island
assemblage in conjunction with hand painting and transfer printing.
Kasuri-mon, or chatter decoration, dates back to the Song dynasty (960–
1279) in China and is typically found on nonvitreous pottery. The process
begins by coating a vessel with white (or other colored) slip when leather
hard and allowing it to dry. The vessel is then placed on a potter’s wheel,
8
douglas e. ross
Figure 7 Bowl fragment, Japan, ca. 1875.
Porcelain. D. 4E÷$". Blue and pink painted
plum blossoms with resist accents.
Figure 8 Celadon teacup, Japan, late
19th–early 20th century. Porcelain. D. 3Q÷*".
Green glaze with kasuri-mon decoration.
Figure 9 Bowl, Japan, late 19th–early
20th century. Porcelain. D. 4E÷$". Splashes
of brown wash on rim and flattened facets
around lower body.
Figure 10 Bowl, Japan, ca. 1890. Porcelain. D. 4QQ÷!^". Painted with blue and
brown washes and incised lines around
base.
Figure 11 Teapot-shoulder fragment,
Japan, ca. 1885. Porcelain. D. 3E÷*". Blue
painted floral designs around neck and
sharkskin glaze on body.
and, as it turns, a flexible trimming tool (kanna) is allowed to skip across
the surface, removing small gouges from the slip with each touch. The
speed of the wheel aVects the size of and distance between marks.15 This
pattern is present on Japanese celadon (seiji) teacups recovered from Don
Island, although no slip was used in those cases because the brilliant white
of the porcelain body provided adequate contrast with the green glaze.
Other decorative techniques are less common on Don Island. Blue and
brown washes are thin, translucent pigments applied to a vessel by dipping
or brushing and occur as regular bands, irregular splotches, or fill for
objects outlined by painting or printing. One partial teapot rim has blue
painted floral decoration around the collar but beige sharkskin-textured
glaze on the body. According to Leland Bibb, vessels with this decoration
9
japanese domestic wares
were manufactured in Aizu-Hongo in Fukushima prefecture and were first
exported to America in 1885, although the sharkskin-type glaze is known to
have been produced at a number of kilns during the Meiji period.16
Vessel Forms and Classification Schemes
Japanese ceramics are produced in a range of shapes and sizes for specific
functions.17 Vessel nomenclature is variable, and there exists no generally
accepted classification scheme for late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century
tableware. Julia Costello and Mary Maniery’s preliminary study of Chinese
and Japanese ceramics from Walnut Grove, California, employed a system
based on shape, size, and function that has been adopted by other
researchers.18 Bibb has developed a similar nomenclature, drawing more
systematically from the Japanese-language literature for naming conventions, an approach I adopt here (table 3).19
table
3
Japanese Vessel-Form Terminology
English
Japanese
Rice bowl
Small dish/plate
Pickle dish
Medium dish/plate
Large dish/plate
Teacup
Noodle cup
Teapot
Sake cup
Sake bottle (decanter)
Sake bottle (Western style)
Mortar/grinding bowl
Saucepan/frying pan
gohan chawan
kozara
namasu zara
nakazara
ozara
yunomi
soba choko
dobin, kyusu
sakazuki, guinomi
tokkuri
saka-bin
suribachi
horoku
Japanese on Don Island used a limited number of vessel types; other
North American sites have produced additional forms but still fall far short
of the range of tablewares available in contemporary Japan. Nevertheless,
this simplified assemblage corresponds closely with the traditional daily
meal of rice, miso soup, and side dishes of pickled vegetables, along with
tea and sake. By far the most common vessel form from Don Island is a
bowl 4–4E÷$ inches in diameter used interchangeably for rice and soup,
sometimes with a dish-shaped lid (fig. 12, table 4). Next is a shallow, round
dish 4E÷$–6Q÷$ inches in diameter with two major variants, used for side
dishes. The first variant is generally referred to as kozara (small dish), and
the second as namasu zara (pickle dish); the latter is deeper, with a scalloped rim and a circular recess on the base known as janome (snake-eye or
bull’s-eye) (fig. 13). Teacups are similar in shape to rice/soup bowls but are
smaller in rim diameter (2E÷*–4 inches) and come in a wide variety of shapes
and sizes. Similar to teacups are sake cups, which are shallower with thinner walls and everted rims. Two types of teapots common in Japan are the
dobin, with a detachable looped handle, fragments of which were found on
10
douglas e. ross
Figure 12 Profile drawings of Japanese
ceramic tablewares from Don Island.
a. bowl
b. bowl
c. bowl lid
d. small dish
e. small dish
f. pickle dish
g–j. teacups
k. sake cups
l. sake cup
0
table 4
m. broken cup
5 cm
Don Island Vessel Forms
nisp*
Vessel Form
Rice/soup bowls
Pickle dishes
Teacups
Small dishes
Sake cups
Teapots
Sake bottles (tokkuri)
Eggcups
Mortar bowls
Indeterminate
Total
720
341
84
80
16
5
11
3
11
467
1,738
m n v **
160
46
39
25
7
5
3
2
2
5
294
* Number of identified specimens present, or the total number of fragments.
** Minimum number of vessels, the smallest number of whole objects that can account for all
the fragments.
11
japanese domestic wares
Figure 13 Reverse of the pickle dish illustrated in fig. 4, showing snake-eye base
and blue printed plum blossoms around
the rim.
Figure 14 Eggcup fragments, Japan,
ca. 1890. D. 1E÷$". Porcelain. Overglazered transfer-printed design in Geisha Girl
pattern.
Don Island, and the smaller kyusu, with a rod-type handle projecting from
the body.20 Fragments of two eggcups are export-style wares intended for
the North American market (fig. 14).
Additional forms have been recovered on other sites, including larger
bowls, dishes, and plates or platters that may have functioned as serving
wares, along with porcelain and stoneware sake bottles known as tokkuri
and saka-bin. Tokkuri are cylindrical or bulbous bottles (decanters) of
stoneware or porcelain with slender necks and flaring rims; some of these
bottles have faceted or fluted sides (fig. 15). Marks and decoration include
transfer printing, calligraphy, incising, or paper labels, often indicating
names of brewers, retailers, or consumers. Saka-bin are cylindrical stoneware containers similar to Euro-American glass beverage bottles, with a
bluish white or bluish gray exterior glaze and with similar maker’s marks
(fig. 16).21
12
douglas e. ross
Figure 15 Sake bottle (tokkuri), Japan,
ca. 1890. Porcelain. H. 6QQ÷!^". (Courtesy,
Asian American Comparative Collection,
University of Idaho, AACC-98-53.)
Figure 16 Sake bottles (saka-bin) Japan,
late 19th–early 20th century. Stoneware.
H. (left) 11Q÷$", (right) 8Q÷@". (Courtesy,
Asian American Comparative Collection,
University of Idaho. AACC-94-82,
CCC-82-8.)
Nonporcelain Japanese Ceramics
Nonporcelain Japanese vessels from Don Island include stoneware suribachi
(mortar bowls), with incised parallel grooves on the interior for grinding
ingredients like miso and sesame seeds into a paste using a wooden pestle
(surikogi) (figs. 17, 18).22 The body is typically buV or cream colored with an
opaque brown glaze on the exterior and sometimes a brown slip on the
Figure 17 Mortar bowl, Japan, late 19th–early 20th century, recovered from Don Island. Stoneware with combed
interior. D. 14E÷!^". See profile drawing in fig. 18.
13
Figure 18 Profile drawing of the mortar bowl (suribachi)
illustrated in fig. 17.
japanese domestic wares
Figure 19 Teacup, Japan, late 19th–early
20th century. Earthenware. D. 2E÷$".
Undecorated with clear glaze.
Figure 20 Teacup, Japan,
late 19th–early 20th century.
D. 2E÷*". Stoneware. Metallic
oxide glaze and incised
designs on lower body and
base.
Figure 21 Rim fragment from ceramic
frying pan (horoku). Earthenware.
D. 14E÷!^".
Figure 22 Profile drawing of the frying
pan fragment illustrated in fig. 21.
Figure 23 Profile drawing of Japanese
ceramic frying pan similar to the one illustrated in fig. 21. Redrawn from Wilson,
The Archaeology of Edo, p. 35, no scale.
interior. Two nonporcelain teacups were also recovered, one a dark gray
stoneware, the other a buV-colored earthenware (figs. 19, 20), along with a
fragment of a red earthenware horoku (saucepan/frying pan), used to parch
beans and roast sesame seeds and tea (figs. 21–23).23
Ceramic Body
Porcelain is typically characterized as having a thin, white, translucent body
with little or no porosity, fired at high temperatures (1300–1450°C).24
Much of the Japanese tableware recovered from Don Island conforms to
these characteristics; however, approximately 20 percent of the sherds are
opaque and range in color from white to pale gray. Some scholars refer to
these wares as “porcelaneous stoneware,” but this term masks the visual
continuum between opaque and translucent vessels and implies a starker
14
douglas e. ross
distinction than exists in reality. It also implies potters intended to produce
a stoneware body rather than a porcelain one. Hazel Gorham argues that
Japanese do not define porcelain by (or value it for) its thinness and
translucency, and they term porcelain what Westerners would call only semiporcelain.25 According to Oliver Impey, “If [the standard] definition [of
porcelain] was to be applied strictly, then many oriental porcelains, including most of the Japanese wares, having a grey, opaque body, would have to
be eliminated from the class; it is clear that we are talking not of a definition
so much as of a guide-line.”26
In general, porcelains are made from a white-firing kaolin (or similar
residual) clay combined with silica and feldspar, which tends to be nonplastic, and vessels are often cast in molds or formed using a jigger. To increase
plasticity and make porcelain clays suitable for wheel throwing, the addition
of sedimentary ball clay in suYcient quantities can turn the final product
cream colored or gray and reduce its translucency due to the presence of
impurities like iron oxide.27 During the Tokugawa and early Meiji periods,
porcelains were typically hand thrown on a wheel, and it was not until
later that casting in plaster (gypsum) molds (early 1870s) and jiggering
(circa 1915) were introduced to Japan.28 It is possible the opaque gray cast
present in Tokugawa and Meiji porcelain derives from attempts to make
clays suitable for wheel throwing, and that less ball clay was required once
casting and jiggering were widespread. Furthermore, a desire to make
high-quality translucent porcelain for the Western market was an important incentive in the development of finer wares during the Meiji period.29
It is also possible that the porcelain clay was improperly processed prior to
forming: incomplete levigation (water sorting) may leave mineral inclusions behind, aVecting firing properties.30 Air pockets in the body of many
opaque sherds suggest the clay was insuYciently kneaded, indicating that
at least one of the processing stages was inadequately performed. It is
likely, then, that the opacity and oV-white coloring of some of the Don
Island tableware is related to contingencies of the porcelain production
process and a lack of concern for translucency rather than a conscious
attempt to create a stoneware-like body.
Many opaque sherds from Don Island are associated with the thickly
potted, hastily decorated, stencilware vessels. Because stencil decoration
predates development of transfer printing in the Meiji period, it seems possible these opaque vessels are a legacy of early attempts to introduce cheap
mass-produced porcelain tableware in the years before casting and jiggering became widespread, and that some companies continued to make such
inferior products for a time after superior methods were introduced elsewhere. These low-quality wares constitute much of the stencilware output
along with some of the early transfer wares. Takehisa Yamada notes that the
widespread development of high-quality hard porcelains for the export
market occurred over the first two decades of the twentieth century, and
the proportion of opaque vessels in the Don Island assemblage probably
reflects that transition.31
15
japanese domestic wares
Design Elements and Motifs
Japanese assemblages are characterized by a wide variety of design configurations that do not necessarily recur at contemporary sites or persist over
time. Such diversity makes these wares challenging to classify and interpret
on stylistic grounds. Nevertheless, a number of core motifs and stylistic
themes and conventions do commonly recur (albeit in unique combinations), and, rather than identify each unique combination as its own type,
it is more practical to classify designs thematically. Tableware was not marketed in matching sets, and no two vessel forms in the Don Island assemblage have the same decorative pattern.
Design Structure
Ceramic tablewares were decorated with reference to a series of horizontal
spatial divisions on the interior and exterior of a vessel. Imari wares were
initially based on Chinese prototypes, and vessel decoration was divided
into five sections, following the Chinese style: one motif in the center of
the upper/interior surface, a second around the center, a third around the
interior rim, a fourth on the underside/exterior, and a fifth on the foot
ring.32 The central motifs were Chinese or Japanese in style, with repetitive
floral motifs around the center and on other parts of the vessel. Many massproduced Meiji porcelains maintained this structure, some entirely covered
with intricate patterns on the interior or exterior. In some cases, there are
four distinct motifs on the interior surface and/or an additional one just
above the foot ring on the exterior. For this discussion, interior divisions
will be referred to as the rim, cavetto, perimeter, and center, and exterior
divisions as the rim, body, heel, and foot.33 Hollow ware vessels with a
neck or collar may have distinct decoration on this portion, and the lip of
a vessel may also contain a ring of color. On the interior of shallow dishes,
a single motif often covers both the rim and cavetto, and it is possible for
single motifs to cover the entire interior or exterior of a vessel, or for horizontal spatial divisions to be subdivided vertically into ribbons or panels.
Each division may contain structural elements (such as lines) or design elements. Technological considerations aVect the nature of porcelain decoration. For example, stencil- and transfer-printing techniques facilitated
detailed repetitive designs across an entire vessel, although the physical
limitations of paper stencils precluded the fine detail and shading possible
with transfers.34
Design Content
A number of scholars have identified common themes and motifs found on
Japanese porcelain.35 Many are inspired by Tokugawa-period porcelains
and other decorative arts from previous centuries, while some are linked to
the new government’s focus on technological development and military
expansion and conquest. Multiple kinds of motifs can be found on a single
vessel, complicating a straightforward classification scheme, and porcelain
vessels can be classified in any number of ways according to the needs of
the investigator (fig. 24).
16
douglas e. ross
Figure 24 Small dish, Japan, ca. 1890.
Porcelain. D. 5Q÷@". Blue transfer-printed
and painted designs of human figures,
birds, several kinds of flowers, and geometric diaper pattern.
For this study, design was explored by classifying vessels according to
thematic content, and then subdividing them by specific elements or
motifs for interpretation. Where multiple motifs are present, vessels were
grouped according to the dominant motif, generally occurring on the
cavetto of dishes and the exterior body of bowls and cups. Thematic categories used here are plants and animals, geometric patterns, human
figures and domestic scenes, military and patriotic symbols, household
objects, landscapes, mythology and religion, written characters, and
abstract decoration (table 5). Meiji porcelain was decorated in a seemingly
limitless variety of designs, and these themes will not cover such diversity,
which includes numerous dominant motifs that crosscut categories.36
Curiously, the Don Island assemblage contains only one example of a military theme and none bearing images of Western technology, such as the
ships, clocks, trains, factories, and airplanes that appear on published
specimens.
17
japanese domestic wares
table 5
Dominant Motif Themes on Don Island Porcelain
(n.b.: Five decorative patterns are unidentified.)
Theme
Plants, animals
Geometric
patterns
Small
dishes
48
11
1
1
3
1
1
Human figures,
domestic scenes
Military and
patriotic symbols
Pickle
dishes
Bowls
4
1
Mythology,
religion
5
2
3
1
2
Written characters
Figure 25 Teacup, Japan, ca. 1915.
Porcelain. D. 2E÷$". Blue transfer-printed
Phoenix Bird pattern.
7
Teapots Eggcups
1
Landscapes
Total
8
Sake
cups
1
Household objects
Abstract
Teacups
1
2
58
1
16
4
16
7
3
1
Although indigenous themes and styles are common, many design motifs
on Japanese porcelain have their origin in Chinese culture, religion, and
mythology, which have been influential in the development of Japanese art
for centuries. In the Tokugawa period, publication of Chinese and Japanese
manuals for depicting objects such as trees, flowers, birds, rocks, and mountains contributed to what Merrily Baird refers to as a “standardized design
lexicon.” Images once associated with elites became available to members of
lower classes and vice versa, and this democratization of design led to a proliferation of motifs on all manner of daily consumer goods. With the fall of
feudal society at the end of the Tokugawa period, even heraldic crests (mon)
of important lineages, including the imperial family, became widely adopted
and copied. During the Meiji period, art was strongly influenced by the
move toward Westernization but was also aVected by a reaction to this
process in the 1880s that emphasized a rediscovery of traditional culture.37
Two popular decorative patterns in the Meiji and Taisho periods that
appear on export wares and have garnered attention in the collectors’ literature are known as Phoenix Bird and Geisha Girl. The blue transfer-printed
Phoenix Bird pattern occurs on a wide range of Western-style vessels, but
in the Don Island assemblage occurs only on handleless teacups and rice
bowls (figs. 25, 26). The principal components of the design are a mythological bird known in Japan as the ho-o (similar in appearance to a phoenix),
combined with a background of karakusa (scrolling vines, also known as
Chinese grass) interspersed with chrysanthemum and/or paulownia blossoms. The phoenix, paulownia, and chrysanthemum were traditionally
associated with the imperial family. The earliest known reference is from a
18
douglas e. ross
Figure 26 Bowl, Japan, ca. 1915.
Porcelain. D. 4T÷!^". Blue transfer-printed
Phoenix Bird pattern.
Figure 27 Bowl, Japan, ca. 1875.
Porcelain. D. 4QT÷!^". Celadon bowl with
polychrome painted floral design.
1914 catalog of A. A. Vantine & Co. in New York City, and the design was
likely introduced to North America around this date.38 Geisha Girl is a pattern developed in Kutani in the 1890s and also occurs on a wide range of
Western-style vessels.39 It typically depicts women dressed in kimono (not
necessarily geisha) in domestic or landscape scenes from premodern Japan
and may include men and children, pagodas, and various flowers, trees,
and animals. Decoration is executed in overglaze-red transfer printing,
combined with borders and motifs filled in with hand-painted decoration
in red, cobalt blue (underglaze), maroon, green, yellow, and gold. These
wares were available through department stores or oriental shops and may
occur in traditional Japanese forms, although the only vessel with this pattern recovered from Don Island was a Western-style eggcup (see fig. 14).
Another familiar decorative type found on Don Island and other Japanese
sites is seiji (Japanese celadon), an allover green glaze introduced to Japan
from China and appearing on seventeenth-century porcelains.40 Chinese
celadon wares are common at nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century
Chinese sites in North America and are typically pale bluish green with
blue painted characters on the base. Japanese wares tend to be a brighter
green with a glossier surface, often painted in polychrome enamels (fig. 27).
Most of the Don Island examples also have kasuri-mon decoration on the
exterior (see fig. 8).
19
japanese domestic wares
Including all stenciled, printed, and painted designs on Japanese tableware vessels from Don Island, there are 110 distinct patterns, the vast
majority having plants and trees as the dominant motif, with a handful of
species occurring most often: plum, cherry, chrysanthemum, peony, pine,
and bamboo (table 6). These species have traditionally meaningful associations with seasons or auspicious concepts like longevity and occur alone
against a white or patterned background or in combination with animals
or other plants, sometimes as part of a landscape. Many motifs are highly
table 6
Plants and Animals Appearing in Dominant Motifs
Animals
Plants
Bamboo
Cherry
Chinese flower
Chrysanthemum
Clematis
Cryptomeria
Iris
Karakusa
Maple
Passion flower
Paulownia
Peony
Pine
Plum
6
11
1
11
2
1
1
8
1
1
5
7
7
13
Birds
Butterflies
Deer
Dragons
Fish
Horses
Rabbits
Tortoises
9
2
1
2
2
1
1
2
stylized, and it is often diYcult to distinguish particular plants. Dominant
motifs may also appear in reserve panels highlighted against or separated
by one or more diaper patterns. Reserves may be vertical segments of the
body or floating panels, which sometimes take the form of such objects as
fans or lightning bolts (see figs. 4, 28).
Figure 28 Bowl, Japan, ca. 1890. Porcelain.
D. 4E÷$". Blue transfer-printed plum-tree
design inside lightning-bolt reserve panel.
20
douglas e. ross
Many of these same plant species also appear in border and diaper patterns on rims and bodies and in central medallions. They are accompanied
by common repetitive motifs, such as swastikas, stylized waves and hemp
leaves, karakusa, interlocking circles (the Seven Jewels motif), fish roe,
clouds, and geometric shapes, including squares, diamonds, triangles, and
parallel lines (see fig. 4). Single or paired lines or border designs often
demarcate divisions between parts of a vessel, such as the border between
the cavetto and central medallion.
Figure 29 Common border designs on
Japanese porcelain bowls.
a. pendant
b. tassel
c. pendant triangle with pine
d. pendant triangle with flowers
e. pendant triangle
f. tassel with chrysanthemum 1
g. tassel with chrysanthemum 2
Pendant- or necklace-like border designs commonly occurring on the
interior or exterior rims of bowls and cups are known as yoraku, of which
there are several variants (fig. 29).41 Structurally, the triangular variants in
figures 29c–e actually serve as background for large white cherry blossoms
that cover most of the interior of each bowl. Central medallions occur frequently on the interior of stenciled and transfer-printed vessels, and the
most common by far are variants of the Chinese-inspired combination of
pine, plum, and bamboo known as Three Friends in Winter. Other central
motifs include a peony blossom, a sun, and the crane and turtle pairing (see
figs. 4, 30). One particularly interesting example is a painted pickle dish
21
japanese domestic wares
Figure 30 Pickle dish, Japan, 1875–1920.
Porcelain. D. 5Q÷@". Blue stenciled decoration of pine, plum, and bamboo in central
medallion. Alternate reserve panels contain clematis blossoms against diaper with
Seven Jewels motif.
Figure 31 Pickle dish, Japan, ca. 1870.
Porcelain. D. 5Q÷@". Blue painted designs
with resist pagoda and flowers in central
medallion.
22
douglas e. ross
with a sloppy blue ring in the center, under which flowers, a pagoda, and
what looks like running water were drawn in resist ink (fig. 31).
Many design elements, motifs, and themes are inspired by or imitations
of Tokugawa-period porcelain. This may reflect continuity in personnel,
direct copying from known vessels, or patterns derived from design books.
One painted teacup from Don Island with an allover chrysanthemum
design is the virtual twin of a style popular in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, although the execution is sloppier (fig. 32).42 Another
motif used repeatedly on Tokugawa porcelains is the pattern of scrolling
Figure 32 Teacup, Japan, ca. 1870. Porcelain. D. 3E÷!^". Blue painted Tokugawaperiod chrysanthemum design.
Figure 33 Bowl, Japan, 1875–1920.
Porcelain. D. 4T÷!^". Blue stenciled decoration with stylized karakusa and Three
Philosophers motif in reserve panel.
vines symbolizing continuity, known as karakusa and often referred to as
“arabesques.”43 It was adopted from China and often contains flowers nestled among the vines, sometimes identifiable (for example, peony and
paulownia), other times more generic (see figs. 25, 26). On Meiji printed
wares, this design was often simplified such that the vines and flowers are
little more than swirls and dashes (fig. 33). One pattern clearly of Meiji origin is the military-themed stencil design on rice bowls recovered from Don
Island that may commemorate the Sino-Japanese (1894–1895) or Russo23
japanese domestic wares
Figure 34 Bowl, Japan, 1895–1920.
Porcelain. D. 4E÷$". Blue stenciled military
theme.
Japanese (1904–1905) wars (fig. 34). Although Bibb contends the majority
of ceramics exported to North America probably were, with few exceptions, manufactured in and around Nagoya, it is not yet possible to link
particular design patterns to production centers with any certainty.44
Marks and Dating
Makers’ Marks
Marks on domestic Japanese porcelain are irregular in appearance, often
ambiguous in meaning, and rarely provide valuable dating information.
Marks can be in Japanese or English and convey a variety of information,
including country of origin, name of manufacturer, decorator, retailer,
location of manufacture, or a simple phrase such as “good luck.” In some
cases, this information can provide researchers with useful data on forms or
design patterns produced in particular regions or at specific kilns.45 However, no systematic documentation linking makers and production centers
with their marks has been published, and so most marks that have only
partial details are untraceable.
Collectors have compiled images of marks found on export wares (which
are far more common), but few of these are seen on Japanese domestic
ceramics from archaeological sites.46 One exception is variations of “Made
in Japan,” which appear on both domestic and export wares, alone or with
a graphic emblem. Unfortunately, no one has linked these wares with particular producers or demonstrated chronological sensitivity. The McKinley
TariV Act ratified by the United States in 1891 required all imports be
marked in English with the country of origin, and Japan complied by marking its wares with “Nippon,” a romanization of the country’s Japanese name.
In 1921 the U.S. declared “Nippon” inadequate and required imports be
marked with the English word “Japan.” I have found no evidence Canada
enacted similar requirements, although Joan Van Patten cites a U.S. regulation
from 1892 exempting goods for immediate transport to Mexico or Canada
from the law. Some researchers claim the 1921 date represents a terminus
post quem for “Made in Japan” appearing in America; others have reported
this mark in contexts predating 1921 and note that some companies found
legal loopholes allowing certain imports to go unmarked.47
24
douglas e. ross
Of the Japanese tableware vessels recovered from Don Island, twenty
contain makers’ marks, nine of which include “Made in Japan.” Of these,
seven (six rice bowls and one teacup) are accompanied by a transfer-printed
emblem of a chrysanthemum on water (kikusui) (fig. 35a), originally the
Figure 35 Marks on Japanese ceramics
from Don and Lion Islands.
a. teacup, D. 2E÷*"
b. eggcup, base D. 1U÷!^"
c. bowl, base D. 1O÷!^"
d. teacup, D. 2QT÷!^"
e. teacup, D. 2E÷$"
f. teacup, D. 3Q÷*"
g. bowl
h. bowl
25
japanese domestic wares
table 7
Japanese Marks on Don Island Porcelain
Figure
Mark
Romanization
Translation/interpretation
6, 35d
秀山精製
shuuyama (or shuuzan) seisei
Excellent/beautiful mountain;
refined manufacturing
35e
大丸育ハル (or
大丸盲ハル) 石雲信吉
daimaru iku (or mou) haru Ishigumo
Shinkichi (or Nobukichi)
Daimaru is a department store;
Ishigumo Shinkichi is likely a (male)
person’s name
35f
景文
keibun
View/scene or mark/letter;
possibly a name
35g
太功 (or 大功) 製
taikou (or takou) sei
Enriched merit; made
35h
豊
toyo
Abundance
family crest of a fourteenth-century emperor’s powerful general. It also
occurs on Japanese ceramics from other North American sites.48 The
remaining marks are hand-painted in Japanese characters (table 7, fig. 6),
but as yet very little information can be derived from them.
Dating and Other Assemblages
Reasonably tight dates exist for the introduction of stencil- and transferprinted wares; unfortunately, they generally fall before the earliest Japanese
sites in North America, and little dating information is yet available for
makers’ marks and decorative styles. As a result, it is diYcult to date sites
from Japanese ceramics alone. Although too small for statistical comparisons, other assemblages support the absence of stencil wares at sites that
postdate circa 1920, along with a decrease in surface area covered by decoration and an increase in the proportion of painted wares and those with
multiple colors.49 Don Island straddles this date and thus has stencil and
transfer designs that cover the entire exterior or interior, as well as transferand hand-painted vessels with sparser decoration more akin to examples
from later sites. The absence of opaque porcelains seems to be another
indicator that a site postdates the mid-1910s.
Simplified decoration on domestic wares may be linked with inflation in
Japan during World War I, followed by a severe economic depression in
the 1920s merging into the global depression at the end of the decade.50
During this time, Japanese goods were overpriced in the world marketplace and regularly passed over in favor of cheaper Chinese products. As a
solution, the government encouraged lowering of domestic prices, and it
is probable ceramic producers reduced the amount of pigment on cheaper
wares to make them more competitive at home and abroad.
Conclusions
The large assemblage of Japanese ceramics from Don Island reflects a consumption pattern focused primarily on cheap, mass-produced porcelain
tableware in a limited number of forms. Designs vary widely in style and
26
douglas e. ross
quality of execution and include techniques and motifs rooted in Chinese
and Japanese tradition and reflect the impact of technological, political,
and aesthetic changes arising during the Meiji period. The color palette is
dominated by cobalt blue, covering most of the surface on stencil and
many transfer wares, but applied more sparingly on other transfer and
painted vessels. This trend is likely rooted in technological limitations and
economic considerations during the period of the site’s occupation. Unlike
Chinese ceramics found at contemporary sites, designs are highly variable
and include innumerable combinations of elements and motifs, although
plants and animals predominate on Don Island. This may be the result of
choice or availability.
While there is much work still to do, enough is known of the history,
technology, uses, and meanings associated with Japanese domestic wares
found at North American sites to oVer valuable interpretive potential. One
avenue in need of further study is relative prices of particular decorative
styles, akin to what Ruth Sando and David Felton have uncovered for
Chinese ceramics.51 Although overall quality suggests that Don Island residents selected from among the cheapest wares available, specimens exhibit
considerable variability in detail and execution, raising the possibility of an
economic hierarchy of ceramic styles. Further examination of sites occupied over a short time by historically documented populations would help
disentangle economic from chronological factors. Ultimately, research is
just beginning and the most rewarding discoveries certainly lie ahead.
a c k n o w l e d g m e n t s The following individuals and institutions contributed immensely to this paper by providing access to research
data and collections, sharing skills and expertise, or oVering critical commentary on the text. They are Leland Bibb, Stan Fukawa, C. T. Keally,
Timothy Savage and the Japanese Canadian National Museum, Priscilla
Wegars and the Asian American Comparative Collection, and Richard
Wilson. This research was supported in part by a Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship.
1. Douglas E. Ross, “Material Life and Socio-Cultural Transformation among Asian Transmigrants at a Fraser River Salmon Cannery” (Ph.D. diss., Simon Fraser University, 2009).
2. Oliver Impey, The Early Porcelain Kilns of Japan: Arita in the First Half of the Seventeenth
Century (Oxford: Clarendon, 1996), pp. 1–2.
3. Oliver Impey, Japanese Export Porcelain: Catalogue of the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford (Amsterdam: Hotei, 2002), pp. 14–16; Nancy SchiVer, Japanese Porcelain, 1800–1950
(Atglen, Pa.: SchiVer, 1999), pp. 22–24.
4. Gisela Jahn, Meiji Ceramics: The Art of Japanese Export Porcelain and Satsuma Ware, 1868–
1912 (Stuttgart: Arnoldsche, 2004), pp. 84–87.
5. SchiVer, Japanese Porcelain, p. 25; Jahn, Meiji Ceramics, pp. 186, 301; Richard L. Wilson,
ed., The Archaeology of Edo, Premodern Tokyo, Working Papers in Japan Studies 7 (Tokyo: Japan
Studies Program and Archaeology Research Center, International Christian University,
[1997]), pp. 3, 27.
6. Jahn, Meiji Ceramics, pp. 108–14.
7. Ibid., pp. 33–35, 301.
8. Leland E. Bibb, “Japanese Stencilwares of the Meiji and Taisho Eras,” Asian American
Comparative Collection Newsletter (Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Idaho) 18
(2001): 5–6; Tajimi (The City of Tajimi, Japan), “Mino-yaki no Inban—Suri-e—Doban
27
japanese domestic wares
Inban” [Mino’s engraved wares: Stencil and transfer printed], Mino-yaki Tajimi Newsletter 2
(1997); Irene Finch, “Printing and Resist Methods on Japanese Porcelains,” Arts of Asia
(Kowloon, Hong Kong) 31, no. 2 (2001): 66–78.
9. Tajimi, “Mino-yaki no Inban,” p. 5; Hiroko Nishida and Koji Ohashi, “KoImari” [Old
Imari ware], Taiyo / The Sun (Tokyo) 63 (1988): 41.
10. Bibb, “Japanese Stencilwares”; Finch, “Printing and Resist Methods,” pp. 73–74.
11. Teresita Majewski and Michael J. O’Brien, “The Use and Misuse of Nineteenth-Century
English and American Ceramics in Archaeological Analysis,” in Advances in Archaeological
Method and Theory, Volume 11, edited by Michael B. SchiVer (San Diego, Calif.: Academic,
1987), pp. 141–42.
12. Tajimi, “Mino-yaki no Inban,” pp. 5–6.
13. Majewski and O’Brien, “Use and Misuse of Nineteenth-Century English and American
Ceramics,” pp. 142–43; Jahn, Meiji Ceramics, pp. 83, 122.
14. Finch, “Printing and Resist Methods,” p. 66.
15. Herbert H. Sanders, The World of Japanese Ceramics (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1967), p. 178.
16. Leland E. Bibb, “Japanese Ceramics from the Home Avenue Dump, San Diego, California” (unpublished ms. in possession of the author 1997, corrected and rev. 2006); Louise
Allison Cort, Shigaraki, Potters’ Valley (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1979), pp. 251–52.
17. Richard L. Wilson, Inside Japanese Ceramics: A Primer of Materials, Techniques, and
Traditions (New York: Weatherhill, 1995), pp. 17–19.
18. Julia G. Costello and Mary L. Maniery, Rice Bowls in the Delta: Artifacts Recovered from
the 1915 Asian Community of Walnut Grove, California, Occasional Paper 16 (Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 1988); Nicole Louise Branton, “Drawing the
Line: Places of Power in the Japanese-American Internment Eventscape” (Ph.D. diss., University of Arizona, Tucson, 2004); Teresita Majewski, “Historical Ceramics,” in Three Farewells
to Manzanar: The Archaeology of Manzanar National Historic Site, California, edited by JeVery
F. Burton, Publications in Anthropology 67 (Tucson, Ariz.: Western Archaeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, 1996), pp. 793–862.
19. Bibb, “Japanese Ceramics”; Julia G. Costello, Judith Marvin, Scott Baker, and Leland
E. Bibb, “Historic Study Report for Three Historic-Period Resources on the Golf Club Rehabilitation Project on U.S. 395 near Bishop, Inyo County, California” (Bishop, Calif.: Report
prepared for Department of Transportation by Foothill Resources, 2001); Jerry Schaefer and
William McCawley, “A Pier into the Past at Point Mugu: The History and Archaeology of a
Japanese-American Sportfishing Resort” (Encinitas, Calif.: Report prepared for U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, by ASM AYliates, 1999). I draw Japanese terminology
from the following soures: Nishida and Ohashi, “KoImari”; Penny Simpson, Kanji Sodeoka,
and Lucy Kitto, The Japanese Pottery Handbook (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1979); Shinichi Yashiro,
Inbante ni miserareta kurashi [Enchanted living with printed wares] (Tokyo: Gakken, 2001).
20. David Miller, “Plain Blue-and-White Soba Choko,” Daruma (Amagasaki, Japan) 23
(1999): 30–38; Simpson et al., “Japanese Pottery Handbook.”
21. Costello and Maniery, Rice Bowls in the Delta; Schaefer and McCawley, “Pier into the
Past”; Bernard P. Stoltie, “Tokkuri and Friends: A Salute to the Japanese Sake Bottle,” Arts of
Asia 25 (1995): 101–12; Cort, Shikaragi, p. 212; Jahn, Meiji Ceramics, p. 302.
22. Cort, Shikaragi, pp. 60–63, 120, 212.
23. Wilson, Archaeology of Edo, pp. 34–35.
24. Prudence Rice, Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1987), pp. 4–6.
25. Hazel Gorham, Japanese and Oriental Ceramics (Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1971),
p. 178.
26. Impey, Early Porcelain Kilns of Japan, p. 1.
27. Majewski and O’Brien, “Use and Misuse of Nineteenth-Century English and American
Ceramics,” p. 125; F. H. Norton, Fine Ceramics: Technology and Applications (New York:
McGraw-Hill, [1970]), p. 52; Wilson, Inside Japanese Ceramics, p. 46.
28. Gorham, Japanese and Oriental Ceramics, p. 107; Jahn, Meiji Ceramics, p. 113; Irene Stitt,
Japanese Ceramics of the Last 100 Years (New York: Crown, 1974), p. 44.
29. Takehisa Yamada, “The Export-Oriented Industrialization of Japanese Pottery: The
Adoption and Adaptation of Overseas Technology and Market Information,” in The Role of
Tradition in Japan’s Industrialization: Another Path to Industrialization, edited by Masayuki
Tanimoto, Japanese Studies in Economic and Social History Series 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
28
douglas e. ross
30. Wilson, Inside Japanese Ceramics, p. 49.
31. Yamada, “Export-Oriented Industrialization of Japanese Pottery.”
32. Takeshi Nagatake, Classic Japanese Porcelain: Imari and Kakiemon (Tokyo: Kodansha,
2003), pp. 59–60.
33. The cavetto is defined here as the curved area between the well and rim of a vessel.
34. Bibb, “Japanese Ceramics,” p. 6; Tajimi, “Mino’s Engraved Wares,” p. 2.
35. See, for example, Bibb, “Japanese Stencilwares”; Miller, “Plain Blue-and-White Soba
Choko.”
36. See Hironori Noguchi, Kuninori Numano, and Nobuko Numano, Meiji Taisho Showa
no zugawari inban / Meiji, Taisho, and Showa Era Engraved Wares (Tokyo: Kobijutsu Mejiro
Maruai, 1993); Alistair Seton, Igezara Printed China (Tokyo: Kogei, 1994); Yashiro, Inbante
ni miserareta kurashi.
37. Penelope Mason, History of Japanese Art (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice
Hall, 2005); Merrily Baird, Symbols of Japan: Thematic Motifs in Art and Design (New York:
Rizzoli, 2001), pp. 19–21; Saburo Mizoguchi, Design Motifs, Arts of Japan 1 (New York: Weatherhill, [1973]), pp. 103–28; John W. Dower, The Elements of Japanese Design: A Handbook of Family
Crests, Heraldry and Symbolism (New York: Walker/Weatherhill, 1971), p. 23.
38. Joan Collett Oates, Phoenix Bird Chinaware: A Collector’s Encyclopedia of Its Past, Its Pieces,
Its Potteries; Book One (West Bloomfield, Mich.: J. C. Oates, 1984); Joan Collett Oates,
“Phoenix Bird Chinaware,” in The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Nippon Porcelain, Third Series,
edited by Joan Van Patten (Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 1986), pp. 60–64.
39. Elyce Litts, The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Geisha Girl Porcelain (Paducah, Ky.: Collector
Books, 1988), pp. 8–13.
40. Gorham, Japanese and Oriental Ceramics, pp. 85–87; Sanders, World of Japanese Ceramics,
pp. 189–91.
41. Costello and Maniery, Rice Bowls in the Delta, pp. 52–55; Bibb, “Japanese Stencilwares.”
42. Nishida and Ohashi, “KoImari,” pp. 56, 147.
43. Baird, Symbols of Japan, p. 87; Mizoguchi, Design Motifs.
44. Bibb, “Japanese Ceramics.”
45. Litts, Collector’s Encyclopedia of Geisha Girl Porcelain, p. 58; Seton, Igezara Printed China.
46. See, for example, Litts, Collector’s Encyclopedia of Geisha Girl Porcelain; Joan F. Van
Patten, The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Nippon Porcelain (Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 1979);
Carole Bess White, The Collector’s Guide to Made in Japan Ceramics: Identification and Values
(Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 1994).
47. Van Patten, Collector’s Encyclopedia of Nippon Porcelain, pp. 26–30; Costello and Maniery,
Rice Bowls in the Delta, p. 27; Litts, Collector’s Encyclopedia of Geisha Girl Porcelain, p. 58.
48. Dower, Elements of Japanese Design, p. 52; Rebecca Allen, R. Scott Baxter, Anmarie
Medin, Julia G. Costello, and Connie Young Yu, “Excavation of the Woolen Mills Chinatown
(CA-SCL-807H)” (San Jose, Calif.: Report prepared for California Department of Transportation by Past Forward, Richmond, Calif., 2002); Bibb, “Japanese Ceramics”; JeVery
F. Burton, The Fate of Things: Archaeological Investigations at the Minidoka Relocation Center
Dump, Jerome County, Idaho (Tucson, Ariz.: Western Archaeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2005); Costello and Maniery, Rice
Bowls in the Delta; Fred W. Mueller Jr., “Asian Tz’u: Porcelain for the American Market,” in
Wong Ho Leun: An American Chinatown, edited by The Great Basin Foundation (San Diego:
Great Basin Foundation, 1987).
49. See, for example, Burton, Fate of Things; Bob Muckle, “Archaeology of Nikkei Logging
Camps in North Vancouver,” Nikkei Images (Japanese Canadian National Museum and
Archives Society) 9, no. 4 (2004): 1–3.
50. For a discussion of the economic circumstances of this period, see Andrew Gordon, A
Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2003), pp. 139–43.
51. Ruth Ann Sando and David L. Felton, “Inventory Records of Ceramics and Opium
from a Nineteenth Century Chinese Store in California,” in Priscilla Wegars, Hidden Heritage:
Historical Archaeology of the Overseas Chinese (Amityville, N.Y.: Baywood, 1993), pp. 151–76.
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japanese domestic wares