WARES OF KYŌTŌ
plane of excellence. He was fond of figure subjects—the Shichi-fuku-jin, the Ju-go Dōji, the sixteen Arbats, the Rishis, the Karako (Chinese children at play), and so forth—and he executed his designs with the skill and precision of delicate miniatures. These are essentially the "jewelled" wares of Japan. Nothing more brilliant is to be found among the productions of the country. Shūhei's pieces are porcelain, for the most part, but he manufactured some fine specimens of faience also. He was succeeded by his son, of the same name, a good artist, but decidedly inferior to his father. There is no representative of the family at present living, but the mark "Shūhei" is sometimes used by a brother of Dōhachi, the well-known potter of Gojō-zaka.
There flourished contemporaneously with Shūhei an excellent keramist, Otowaya Sōzaemon, generally known as Kentei but sometimes called Tōsen. He lived at Gojō-zaka, near the bank of the river Otawa, and his name became known to the public in the Kansei era (1782–1809). Kentei did not manufacture porcelain. His specialty was unglazed pottery with cream-coloured or light grey pâte of very fine pipe-clay. To this were applied delicately traced pictorial designs—sometimes in gold alone, sometimes in coloured enamels—supplemented usually by stanzas of poetry or classical quotations. A peculiarity of this charming ware is the rapidity with which it changes colour; so much so that, after a few months of constant use, the white surface of a teapot becomes dark brown, or even black, and at the same time acquires glaze from manipulation. Kentei and Shūhei are regarded as most eminent masters in the manufacture of the little Japanese Kiusu (teapot).
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