Karatsu Ware: The Painted Stoneware of Hizen
An old saying among tea people ranks the great tea bowls: ichi Raku, ni Hagi, san Karatsu, first Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu. Karatsu ware comes from the old province of Hizen, in present-day Saga and Nagasaki, and it was once so widespread in western Japan that karatsu-mono simply meant pottery.
Korean roots
Stoneware was being made around Karatsu by the 1580s, with techniques from the Korean peninsula: the kick wheel, the climbing kiln and glazes of ash and feldspar. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the 1590s, many more Korean potters were brought to Kyushu, and the Karatsu kilns multiplied. Their wares supplied both everyday tables and the tea rooms of the Momoyama period.
Types to know
- E-Karatsu. Painted Karatsu. Quick sketches of grasses, reeds, birds or persimmons brushed in iron under a translucent glaze. The economy of the brushwork is the whole point.
- Madara-Karatsu. Speckled Karatsu, with a milky straw-ash glaze dotted with blue where iron in the clay comes through.
- Chōsen-Karatsu. Korean Karatsu, combining a dark iron glaze and a white straw-ash glaze that run into each other on the same piece.
- Mishima-Karatsu. Inlaid with white slip in stamped or incised patterns, after Korean punch'ong wares.
- Muji-Karatsu. Plain Karatsu, glazed without decoration.
Bowls and cups
Karatsu tea bowls tend to be open and relaxed in form, often with a wide mouth and a low, crisply trimmed foot. Even more sought after today are small sake cups, guinomi, and sake flasks, tokkuri. Collectors say a Karatsu cup comes alive with use, as sake slowly darkens the crackle and softens the surface. An old Karatsu cup with good form and fine glaze can command a remarkable price.
Revival and the Nakazato family
Production declined during the Edo period as porcelain took over the market. In the twentieth century, Karatsu was revived by potters who studied old kiln sites and shards. The Nakazato family, potters to the Karatsu lords, has been central: Nakazato Tarōemon XII, known as Muan, was designated a Living National Treasure in 1976, and his descendants continue the line. Many independent potters now work in and around Karatsu.
Collecting Karatsu
- Old Karatsu, known as Ko-Karatsu, is often excavated or repaired. Repairs are common and acceptable if disclosed.
- Modern pieces by recognised potters come in a signed, sealed box. Compare the seal on the base with the box.
- Look at the foot. Karatsu potters often leave a sharply trimmed, slightly rough foot, and the clay colour there tells you much about the kiln.
- Glaze crawling and kiln marks are part of the character, not damage.