EARLY WARES
8. Tanaka Sokichi, or Kichizaemon, whose artist name was Chōniu: son of Saniu. He died in 1770.
Myōgi, wife of Chōniu, manufactured pottery after her husband's death.
9. Tanaka Kichizaemon, whose artist name was Sahyo or Tokuniu: son of Chōniu. He died in 1774.
10. Tanaka Kichizaemon, whose artist name was Ryōniu: son of Tokuniu. He died in 1830.
Myoei, wife of Ryōniu, manufactured pottery after her husband's death, and died in 1834.
11. Tanaka Kichizaemon, whose artist name was Tanniu: son of Ryōniu. He died in 1854.
12. Tanaka Kichizaemon, whose artist name was Keiniu: son of Tanniu. He died in 1875.
13. Tanaka Kichizaemon, the present representative of the family, succeeded to the business in 1873.
N.B. The term "artist name," used above, signifies the name taken by a potter after he shaves his head and retires from business in favour of his son.
It is perhaps necessary to warn the student of Japanese keramics against an inference which may possibly be suggested by the fulness of this table as compared with the meagreness of available information in respect of the names and eras of potters at other factories. Two circumstances helped to secure for the Raku-yaki a degree of favour and notice to which it was not at all entitled by its merits. The first was the fact that it had received the approval of the great art critic, Sen no Rikiu; the second, that it was stamped with a seal bestowed by the most famous of all Japanese chieftains, the Taikō. It is true that the ware does not by any means rank among Japan's best keramic achievements, from a Western point of view. But the very features that detract from its
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