Kakiemon Style
The tea I’m drinking while reading and writing: Jin Xuan, the original Milk Oolong without any artificial flavoring added. Sweet, vanilla, cream, honey on the nose and on the tongue. Green-style, light oxidation processing results in a light bodied tea with just the right sweetness of flavor, meaning not cloying as some of the Milk Oolongs are that have added ingredients.
I’m using a demitasse for a teacup, Herend, Queen Victoria. Underplate is Minton, Haddon Hall.
Overglaze Enameled Porcelain
Today I’m jumping into Kakiemon porcelains. Unfortunately, my local library has no books on this subject, so I may have to order a book ‘blind’ - aka without checking it out first, which I prefer to do.
Regardless, I started my Kakiemon studies via the internet the other day. The thing that caught my interest in this porcelain type was a Kakiemon Tiger that was up for auction - unhelpfully, I forgot which auction house it was being sold at so I can’t go back and see the results after the initial online preview.
Sidenote: when I was doing a search for ‘Kakiemon Tiger’, an episode of ‘Lovejoy,’ the vintage series about the English antiques dealer who gets himself into all sorts of pickles came up. In Season 5 there was an episode titled, The Kakiemon Tiger. Said antique is found at an estate sale and used to help pay off a debt and avert a leg-breaking.
Anyway….
Kakiemon is a charming style of porcelain that originated in Japan during the 17th century, Edo period. It’s from the town of Arita in the Saga prefecture and is named after the potter who perfected the overglaze enamel style that earmarks this design.
One of a pair of Kakiemon Elephants that reside at the British Museum in London. According to the museum, this elephant is the size of a Yorkie, so about 13” tall.
His name was Sakaida Kakiemon.
Sakaida’s original name was Sakaida Kizaemon - he was given the name Kakiemon when he created a beautiful red-orange enamel that matched the color of a persimmon. ‘Kaki’ means persimmon in Japanese.
Overglaze enamel is just what it sounds like, enameling is applied over a glaze.
The process goes like this: A piece of porcelain goes through an initial firing with a clear glaze on a creamy white body, then colored enamels are applied and the piece is fired again at a lower temperature.
This allows for vibrant color and permanence of design due to the fusing that takes place within the kiln.
The Japanese term for this is ‘iro-e’, which means colored pictures.
Although Sakaida Kakiemon was the first in Japan to perfect this art, the look and technique is influenced by Chinese porcelains and most notably those found during the Ming and Qing dynasty. Korean porcelain also had an influence on Kakiemon.
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Figurines, Dishes…Tigers
The various pieces of Kakiemon are beautiful and common motifs include birds, flowers, bamboo, peonies, chrysanthemums on dishes, vases, jars, figurines etc.
However, my favorite Kakiemon pieces are the animals. And especially the tigers. They remind me of Foo Dogs as they are usually in pairs.
They’re quite stylized and I read this may be because tigers are not native to Japan, therefore they copied what they saw in Chinese art or from descriptions they heard via word of mouth.
The Kakiemon tigers often have a flattened brow and appear to be a mix of animals - feline, dragon and dog, giving them a look of a fantasy creature. The expression on their faces is often delightfully quizzical.
To me, this is what makes them so irresistible.
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of a pair, models of Kakiemon Tigers, 17th c.
Kakiemon Palette
Red, green, turquoise, yellow are common to the Kakiemon type palette. But other colors do make an appearance, black, red-brown, pinky-coral.
A Pair of Kakiemon Models of Karashishi (part lion, part dog). From the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian
Kakiemon was very popular and much exported to Europe in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company, especially when the Chinese Ming dynasty began to decline and exports dried up.
Kakiemon style or type is not just produced by the Kakiemon kiln or family, it is a style that has been adopted by other kilns and even potters in different areas of Europe both in the past and present.
You can sometimes find authentic pieces today, but be prepared to pay for them, the original antiques are quite expensive and rare ones are very expensive. At auction a few years ago, one sold for over $80,000 at Sotheby’s and before that a pair sold for over $230,000.
Happy (antique) hunting!