Sometsuke
Sometsuke is the Japanese name for blue and white: white porcelain or pottery painted under the glaze in blue, generally cobalt oxide. Cobalt is one of the very few pigments that survive the high firing that porcelain needs, which is part of why blue and white has been made for so long and in so many places.
Definition
The decoration is applied to the unfired or once-fired body, originally by brush, and covered with a transparent glaze; the piece is then fired once at high temperature. Other colours generally had to be painted over the glaze and fixed with a second, lower firing. In Japan, sometsuke forms and decoration were at first closely modelled on Chinese work and later developed their own styles.
Origin
Blue and white decoration first became widely used on Chinese porcelain in the 14th century, after cobalt began to be imported from Persia, and it soon replaced celadon in fashion. When the new Qing government closed China's ports in the second half of the 17th century and Chinese exports almost stopped, Japanese kilns at Arita, where refugee Chinese potters had brought refined porcelain techniques, filled the gap. From 1658 the Dutch East India Company looked to Japan for blue and white, and from 1659 to about 1740 Arita exported enormous quantities to Europe and Asia, until Chinese kilns recovered.
Key facts
| Pigment | Cobalt oxide, under the glaze |
|---|---|
| In China | Widely used from the 14th century |
| Japanese export | Arita, about 1659 to 1740 |
| Japanese name | Sometsuke |
How to identify it
- Under or over. Sometsuke blue lies under the glaze; enamels sit on top and can be felt.
- The blue. In our handling, hand-painted blue varies in depth within a stroke, where printed blue is even.
- The foot and base. Body, kiln marks and any mark; we read marks as marks, as our entry on the reign mark explains.
Sometsuke and Imari
Imari is a Western term for a brightly coloured style of Arita porcelain, made around Arita in the former Hizen province in north-western Kyushu and exported to Europe in large quantities, especially from the second half of the 17th century. Typical Imari is decorated in underglaze blue, sometsuke, with red, gold and black added over the glaze; the style was so successful that Chinese and European makers copied it. The Kakiemon and Kutani overglaze styles are sometimes grouped under the same name. In our reading, sometsuke is therefore both a ware in its own right and the first layer of many enamelled pieces, and we describe the two layers separately.
Where it appears in the collection
A blue and white Kutani Kannon with lotus is one example. Our guides to Imari porcelain and Kutani ware set out the Japanese wares in full, and our guide to karamono the Chinese.
Related entries
Sources
- Blue and white pottery, encyclopaedia entry, for the technique, the Chinese 14th century, sometsuke, Arita and the Dutch export trade. wikipedia.org
- Imari ware, encyclopaedia entry, for the term, Arita, export and decoration. wikipedia.org
Last reviewed 15 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.