The potter's brush : the Kenzan style in Japanese ceramics

2001·25 MB·English

by  Wilson, Richard L., 1949-

The
Potter's
Brush
JAPANESE CERAMICS
—
THE
POTTER'S
BRUSH
THE KENZAN STYLE IN JAPANESE CERAMICS
Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) is celebrated asJapan's most inventive creator ofceramic
decoration and foremost workshop master. His reputation is a product both ofhis own
—
time an eighteenth-centuryJapanese guidebook noted his work as a "must-buy"
and ofthe modern age: the esteem in which he was held inJapan was ignited in the
West as critics, art dealers, and collectors vied for his colorfully painted and inscribed
work at the turn ofthe twentieth century.The fact that it was signed by the maker
himselfwas one ofits principal draws. In the 1960s, over 100 hitherto unknown pieces
were authenticated by leading experts and then exposed as forgeries.The scandal raised
questions about the nature ofthe "authentic," given that even the ceramics produced
during Ogata Kenzan's lifetime rarely issued directly from his own hand.Wares
continued to be produced under his name, in all probity, long after his death.
Charles Lang Freer (i854-1919) was the world's principal collector ofKenzan wares,
and his acquisitions ranged from original pieces ofKenzan's workshop to late-
nineteenth-century forgeries.The entire spectrum is presented here for the first time.
The story ofFreer's collection uncovers the secret history ofthe complex relationships
between makers and connoisseurs, between individual creativity and artisanal work,
relationships that often operate across centuries. Tlie Potter's Brush explores the
appropriation ofthe Kenzan name, detailing two centuries ofinnovation and
reproduction, and charting the evolution ofwhat amounts to a designer brand of
ceramics.Abundantly illustrated in full color, with a complete inventory ofthe Freer
Gallery ofArt collection, this radical survey offers new ways oflooking at both the
works themselves and the strategies whereby their status has been established in the
art world.

THE KENZAN STYLE IN JAPANESE CERAMICS
RICHARD WILSON
L.
with contributions by Saeko Ogasawara
Published by the Freer Gallery ofArt and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution,Washington, D.C.,
in association with Merrell
FREER GALLERY OF ART
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1
A/X
2001
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CopyrightC2001 Smithsonian Institution le.ives,byOgataKenzan (1663-1743):Edo-Iriyaworkshop, Mr.GeorgeFan
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LibraryoiCongressCataloging-in-Pubhcaticm Data Mrs.Jill HornorMa
Wilson,RichardL,,1949- Mr.Paul M.irks
Thepotter'sbrush : the Kenzansr\leinJapaneseceramics/
Richard L,Wilson ;withcontributionsbySaekoOgasawara. Ms.Elizabeth ErnstMeyer
p,cm Mrs.Daniel Patrick(Elizabeth) Movnihan
Publishedtoaccompanyan exhibition,itthe FreerGalleryof
Mr.FrankPearl
Art.Dec.9,2001-Oct.27,2002.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex, Dr.Martin Powers
ISBN I-8.SS94-156-3 (hardcover)
Dr.GursharanSidhii
ISBN 1-85894-157-1 (softcover)
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T.Pottery,Japanese Edoperiod,1600—1868 Exhibitions. Mr.Michael Soiinenreich
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2.Pottery.Japanese—Expertisi—ng Exhibitions.3.Ogata. Mr.AbolalaSouda\ar
Kenzan,1663-1743 Influence Exhibitions.4.Pottery
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Washington (D.C.) Exhibitions.5.Freer(Galleryof ProtessorElizabethtenGrotenhuis
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Art Exhibitions,I Ogasawara.Sacked-II.FreerGallervotArt. Mr.PaulWalter
III.Tide.
NK4167.5 .\x'552001 Ms.ShelbvWhite
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
director's foreword
jviilo cleveland beach
curator's foreword
louise allison cort
acknowled(;ments
introduction
between kenzan and freer
catalogue
the scholar-recluse
(catalogue nos. i-ts)
native poetics
(catalogue nos. 16-27)
UTSUSHI: COPIES with a DIFFERENCE
(catalogue nos. 28-47)
the korin mode
(catalogue nos. 48-57)
the kenzan mode
(catalogue NOS. 58-72)
the raku mode
(catalogue nos. 73-84)
the first and tast kenzan
potters' perspectives
archaeology
selected bibliography
concordance
INDEX
ll
director's foreword
This bt:)ok, and the exhibition that it accompanies, are greatly mdebtecl to the taciHties
available to scht:)lars at the Smithsonian Institution. A Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow-
m
ship supporteci Richard L.Wilson carrying out his innovative research reinterpreting
m
the identities ot the one hundreci Kenzan-style ceramics the Freer Gallery ot Art.
Dr. Wilson's research also cirew extensively on the recorcis relating to the tormation
ot the collection,carefully preserved by Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) and now housed
in thejoint archive ot the Freer Gallery ot Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,which
together torm the national museum ot Asian art tor the United States. He also
extensively consulted the bc:)oks t^nce m Freers personal collection anci now in the
Freer and Sackler library.
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Dr. Wilsons scientitic analysis of some ot the Kenzan wares in the Freer the
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first such analysis anywhere in the world ot a Kenzan ceramic was carried out in
collaboration with the Freer and Sackler galleries' Department ot Conservation and
Scientific Research. A Smithsonian short-term visitor tellowship provided additional
support tor a later phase ofDr.Wilson's research at the Freer, as did a grant trom the
Metropolitan Center tor Far Eastern Art Studies.
The revised understanding ot the Freer collection that lies at the heart ot this
m
activity has turn transtormed the tundamental understanding held by scholars and
collectors regarding the nature ot Kenzan-style ceramics generally. Credit tor this
accomplishment belongs to Dr. Wilson, but also to the many staff who activate these
institutional programs and facilities. Collaboratic^ns of this sort lie at the heart ot our
gt:)als tl^r the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and define one
strength ot the Smithsonian Institutit~)n.
Milo Cleveland Beach
mULCTOU
l-()RMi:-.K
I-REER GALIEllY OP ART, ARTHUR M.. SACKLER GALLERY, SMITELSONIAN INSTH LTTION
3
As the result of inspired research presented in this book, the Freer Gallery's "Kenzan"
ceramics are now seen as diverse representatives ot all phases oi the enduring traditujn
ot ceramic decoration invented by the Kyoto potter Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743). As
Richard L. Wilson was completing his i9<Ss doctoral dissertation on Kenzan at the
University ot Kansas, I encouraged him to apply for a Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow-
ship in order to make a close study ot the one hundred Kenzan-associated ceramics
in the Freer collection. At that time, the Kenzan ceramics (constituting more than 10
percent ot the Freer's lapanese ceramics collection) clearly torined a major body ot
important material, yet their identity and value were ambiguous. Records ot"comments
made by scholarly visitors suggested a tocus on the importance ot identitymg pieces
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trom the hand ot Kenzan himselt. Those that could not be so identified the bulk of
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the collection were relegated, implicitly, to the shadowy realm ot "takes." It seemed
high time to subject this large body ot v»'ares to a more subtle and revealing analysis.
Richard spent a year in Washington (lySs—S6), scrutinizing the Freers "Kenzan"
pieces while also consulting records in the gallery's archives, collaborating with the
gallery's conservators to do technical studies, and visiting other collections in North
America and Europe. His comprehensive approach involved caretul consideration
not just ot the Kenzan signature (the touchstone tor many earlier visitors) or the
decoration, but also ot the clav, glaze, and pigments, and ot the calligraphic mannerisms
m
the inscriptions. Richard succeeded in dividing the Freer's"Kenzans" into a sequence
of categories that retlected continuous production of Kenzan-style ceramics trom
Kenzan's litetime to the present day. Ot great importance to the field ot Japanese art
history as a whole was this provocative act ot shifting the discussion ot "Kenzan
ceramics" ott the narrow pedestal ot the individual artistic personality. Richard's
reinterpretation ot "Kenzan ware" acknowledges the impact one artist's work could
have on the public and on the work ot other artists, both contemporaneously and
subsequently.
The fruits of Richard's research on the Freer collection were presented to the
public in his subsequent publications in English {TheAit of Osiata Kciiziiii: Pcisoiid and
m
Prodiiclioii in Idpancsc Ccmniics, 1991) and Japanese, together with Ogasawara Saeko
{Oi^ata Kenzan: Zen sakuhin to sono heifn, 1992, and Kenzan yaki nynnion. T999). The
Japanese publications in particular have protoundly transtormed interpretations ot
Kenzan's own work as well as the larger body of ceramics in the Kenzan style. In the
course ot ongoing research, i^ichard's understanding ot the Freer's Kenzan-style wares
has also deepened. It is a pleasure to be able, at long last, to present the Freer pieces in
the light oftheir new identification. 1 take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues