Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

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Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period

A catalogue of the Ashmolean’s Japanese decorative arts from the Meiji period (1868-1912), by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman (published Oxford, 2005).

Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912 by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman

Publications online: 54 objects

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Baluster vase with stylized chrysanthemums

  • Literature notes

    Baluster shaped porcelain vase decorated with a yellow glaze over chrysanthemum heads in low relief. Signed on base in underglaze blue: Makuzu gama Hanzan sei.

    Miyagawa Hanzan (Hannosuke, 1859-1940) was Kōzan's nephew and adopted son. Kōzan handed over the running of the kiln to Hanzan in 1890, though the name remain unchanged, and most pieces were made bearing the 'signature', of Kōzan; pieces like this, signed Hanzan are very uncommon and we do not know why they exist at all. Hanzan took the name Kōzan II on the death of his adopted father in 1916.

    All the prizes that the factory continued to win in both International and National Expositions were awarded in the name Makuzu (Miyagawa) Kōzan. In 1896, Kōzan I was named an Artist of the Imperial Court (Teishitsu gigei in).
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    c. 1895
    Artist/maker
    Miyagawa Hanzan (1859 - 1940) (potter)
    Material and technique
    porcelain, thrown, with low relief decoration under a yellow glaze
    Dimensions
    35 cm (height)
    18 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased with the assistance of the Story Fund, 1996.
    Accession no.
    EA1996.55
  • Further reading

    Impey, Oliver, and Joyce Seaman, Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912, Ashmolean Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 5 on p. 18, p. 8, illus. pp. 18-19

    Pollard, Clare, Master potter of Meiji Japan: Makuzu Kōzan (1842-1916) and his Workshop, Oxford Oriental monographs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 105, pl. 35

    Impey, Oliver, ‘Reflections upon the Arts and Crafts of Meiji Period Japan with Reference to the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum’, Oriental Art, 42/3, (Autumn 1996), p. 12, illus. p. 14 fig. 8

Glossary (2)

glaze, porcelain

  • glaze

    Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.

  • porcelain

    Ceramic material composed of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar which is fired to a temperature of c.1350-1400⁰c. The resulting ceramic is vitreous, translucent, and white in colour.

Location

    • Second floor | Room 36 | Japan

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Collection trails

Publications online

  • Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912 by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman

    Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period

    Baluster shaped porcelain vase decorated with a yellow glaze over chrysanthemum heads in low relief. Signed on base in underglaze blue: Makuzu gama Hanzan sei.

    Miyagawa Hanzan (Hannosuke, 1859-1940) was Kōzan's nephew and adopted son. Kōzan handed over the running of the kiln to Hanzan in 1890, though the name remain unchanged, and most pieces were made bearing the 'signature', of Kōzan; pieces like this, signed Hanzan are very uncommon and we do not know why they exist at all. Hanzan took the name Kōzan II on the death of his adopted father in 1916.

    All the prizes that the factory continued to win in both International and National Expositions were awarded in the name Makuzu (Miyagawa) Kōzan. In 1896, Kōzan I was named an Artist of the Imperial Court (Teishitsu gigei in).
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