Earliest Imari porcelain ware was hand painted in under glazed blue. This method is
known as sometsuke in Japanese. Later when the color decoration was applied over
the glazed porcelain, this became known as akae which means colored ware. A term,
iroe can be also used to describe of this type of porcelain. Kakiemon style porcelain
was produced in this period. Nishiki-de porcelain is a type of iroe porcelain with more
colors & designs which resembles to the colorful nishiki weaving. When European
market found Imari ware as highly decorative art, they desired more colors & more
patterns spread to the ware. By combining the methods of sometsuke & nishiki-de
with much gold decoration they produced the gorgeous kinran-de porcelain which can
be also known as somenishiki for the domestic market. A term, iroe can be also used
to describe all the porcelain or pottery ware with color decoration in general.
known as sometsuke in Japanese. Later when the color decoration was applied over
the glazed porcelain, this became known as akae which means colored ware. A term,
iroe can be also used to describe of this type of porcelain. Kakiemon style porcelain
was produced in this period. Nishiki-de porcelain is a type of iroe porcelain with more
colors & designs which resembles to the colorful nishiki weaving. When European
market found Imari ware as highly decorative art, they desired more colors & more
patterns spread to the ware. By combining the methods of sometsuke & nishiki-de
with much gold decoration they produced the gorgeous kinran-de porcelain which can
be also known as somenishiki for the domestic market. A term, iroe can be also used
to describe all the porcelain or pottery ware with color decoration in general.
| Decoration Methods |
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The most simple coloring technique developed in the earliest time of the porcelain
industry. Sometsuke refers to the Japanese porcelain ware which is hand painted in
under glazed blue, generally cobalt oxide.
| *Althougth the terms describing the styles of the Imari porcelain wares based on the time period & the market may vary, there are two basic categories to divide them which are sometsuke & iroe. Blue & white porcelain is sometsuke and colored porcelain is iroe. |
Iroe
Iroe refers to the porcelain or pottery decoration in polychrome enamels
Iroe refers to the porcelain or pottery decoration in polychrome enamels
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| IMARI |
Sometsuke