Imari Porcelain

The Japanese porcelain style I would like to discuss here is the Imari style. As you can see in the picture, Imari porcelain is different from the previously discussed two styles, Kutani and Satsuma, in that Imari utilizes mostly iron red, cobalt blue, and white patterns outlined in subtle gold. A typical feature of Imari style porcelain is the scalloped edge on plates and bowls.

In 1876, there was an exhibition held in Philadephia (USA) by Japanese trading companies of fine Oriental porcelain, which included the first Imari collection ever presented to the American public. It immediately won the hearts of Americans. The secret of this success is thought to be found in the unique geometric patterns surrounding natural scenes of birds, animals, flowers, etc.
However, the history of Imari porcelain goes back to the 16th century.

In 1542 a Portuguese adventurer Mendez Pinto arrived in Japan more or less by coincidence. Much to his surprise, he noticed a very well organized and highly civilized society he found so appealing he settled down in Japan and laid the foundations for a trading company. With Pinto and his fellow settlers, Christianity also arrived in Japan, which at first did not bother the Japanese, but later became somewhat of a concern for them and their cultural / religious homogeneity. So, in 1637 and thereabouts, the Japanese decided that the Portugese were no longer welcome and they had to leave Japan.

Parallel to this, some Dutch salesmen were also getting quite comfortably settled in the area of Deshima Island in Nagasaki Harbor. Their most important trading goods were porcelain ware from China and Japan. Some of the most colorful porcelain wares from the Japanese Arita kiln arrived to Deshima Island through a stop-over in the harbor of Imari, and then were exported from there to other countries. Serving the specific taste of the Dutch merchants, the early export Imari ware was blue and white (yeah, the Dutch seem to love blue and white dishes even today! :o)). However, once in a while a bright red color would show up with some gold on the vases and bowls, and those became so highly sought after by rich European collectors, that the Dutch (who are real good businessmen) had to include these in their shipments more and more frequently to satisfy the ever growing demand for the colorful Imari porcelain.

Some of the most prominent oriental porcelain collectors came from Royal palaces and nobility like the House of Bourbons (French royalty), Habsburgs (Austria's line of kings and emperors), Hanovers (German line of rulers), and the greatest collector, Augustus the First of Saxony (1670-1733). The probably most impressive Oriental porcelain collection of Europe is kept in the Art Museum of Dresden (Germany) with approximately 1200 items. Augustus of Sachsen Anhalt ordered the first Meissen porcelain factory be built in the hope that Germans may gain insight in the fine tunes of porcelain-making (as it turned out later, thus establishing a very fine, but distinctly different line of porcelain, Meissner). Towards the end of the 18th century the Japan based Dutch trade declined and later became minimal, due to some social changes in the area that directly affected the prices. From then on, the Arita kilns continued to produce porcelain ware but mostly for the Japanese market.

After 1854 the Japanese markets opened up again but this time, the Japanese firms took porcelain trading into their own hands, with success. Some commercialization tendencies emerged as more and more porcelain making factories concentrated on catering to Western markets, thus reducing the traditionally high standards and aesthetic values to mass production in some cases. The introduction of coal fired kilns helped this tendency, as it allowed for higher production output.

This new line of Imari porcelain has been produced consistently ever since, interrupted briefly by WWI and WWII.