Japan

Satsuma-style stoneware 薩摩金襴手陶器

It was through the World Fairs of the second half of the 19th century that the West discovered a form of richly-decorated Japanese stoneware known as “brocade Satsuma” (Satsuma kinrande 薩摩金襴手), characterised by an ivory-coloured body decorated in bright enamels with a strong emphasis on gold. The name Satsuma 薩摩 refers to the domain of a feudal lord on the southern island of Kyushu where these polychrome designs are thought to have originated. The success of these wares during the Meiji period (1868–1912) led to opening, in the large urban centres such as Kyoto, Ôsaka, and Yokohama, of workshops (etsuke 絵付け) specialised in enamel overglaze painting. The workshop principally represented in Alfred Baur’s collections is that of Yabu Meizan 藪明山 (1853–1934), founded in Osaka in 1880; here, plain, undecorated pieces brought in from Kagoshima (Satsuma) were painted with minutely detailed scenes representing landscapes, famous sites, festivals, flowers, and insects.