Japan Ceramic

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WINTER
By Earl H. Reed
(Nothing indecorous in this nudity)


The Western nations went to the source for their instruction, so that the British, French, and German factories were established in direct imitation of the methods so long extant at the potteries of King Te Ching on the Yangtse River. While the Western potters have never been able to equal the Chinese productions, the Japanese have surpassed them in the excellence of their wares. It is natural, then, to turn to the Japanese pottery centers in order to study the ceramic art, and such a visit can be made in comfort, while the hardships of the journey to the Chinese factories will discourage the average tourist.

Notwithstanding the volumes of literature descriptive of the products of Japanese potteries, visitors to the island empire find the subject extremely confusing, and this confusion increases until the fact is suddenly realized that not all of these products are porcelains. It will assist the novice considerably if he bears in mind that the Japanese kilns produce three distinct classes of wares, viz., porcelain, faience, and pottery. The first is translucent because the "paste" or "biscuit" - which is the body of the ware under neath the glaze - is vitrified, owing to the fusion of the clay and feldspar elements.

The faience is opaque, the paste being strong but not vitrified. The pottery is the ordinary glazed or unglazed earthenware, the biscuit of which may or may not be white. In this classification the wares ordinarily used in Western countries arc faience, the biscuit not being vitrified or glassy; and none of the French, German, or English porcelains approach the Chinese or Japanese products in this respect. Pottery was the original Japanese ware, the manufacture of porcelain being derived from the Chinese, and the Koreans taught the Japanese the art of making faience.