page_title: Kutani ware
section_title: Ko-Kutani
hierarchical_section_title: Kutani ware / History / Ko-Kutani
caption_attribution_description: English: stone mounted monument of Saijirou Goto and Old-Kutani (left), and the stone pillar indicates site of Old-Kutani porcelain furnace (right) at Kutani machi, Yamanaka onsen, Kaga, Ishikawa, Japan 日本語: 九谷焼始祖「後藤才次郎紀功碑」(左）と「古九谷焼窯址」 昭和10年10月21日永井柳太郎書（右）、加賀市山中温泉九谷町
context_page_description: Kutani ware is a style of Japanese porcelain traditionally supposed to be from Kutani, now a part of Kaga, Ishikawa, in the former Kaga Province. It is divided into two phases: Ko-Kutani, from the 17th and early 18th centuries, and Saikō-Kutani from the revived production in the 19th century. The more prestigious Ko-Kutani wares are recognised by scholars to be a complex and much mis-represented group, very often not from Kutani at all.
  Kutani ware, especially in the Ko-Kutani period, is marked by vivid dark colors that epitomize lavish aesthetics. It is theorized that the long, harsh and grey winters of the Hokuriku region led to a desire among people living there for ceramic ware to show strong and bold colours. The classical five colours style is known as gosai-de which includes green, blue, yellow, purple, and red. The designs are bold and normally depict landscapes, the beauty of nature, and people, and cover most of the surface of each piece.
  In recognition of the modern understanding that much, if not most, of the Ko-Kutani production was around Arita, the wares are now sometimes grouped with Imari ware, or the wider groupings of Arita ware or Hizen ware.
context_section_description: The term kutani means "Nine Valleys". The first mention was in 1655 during the Meireki era. According to tradition, clays suitable for porcelain making were found in the Kutani mines of the Daishōji clan, a cadet branch of the Maida clan who ruled Daishōji Domain. Gotō Saijirō, a member of the Maeda clan, was sent by orders of Maeda Toshiharu, daimyō of Kaga Domain to Arita in Hizen Province to learn how to make porcelain. He set up a kiln in the village of Kutani. The daimyō of Kaga Domain became great patrons of Kutani. Porcelains from this early period are specifically called old Kutani (古九谷, ko-Kutani) and are very rare. 
  Ko-Kutani enjoyed popularity for the next few decades after 1655. The styles of the old Kutani were Aote (青手), which used colours of deep green, yellow, dark blue and purple, and Iroe (色絵), which used colours of red, green, purple, dark blue, and yellow. Arita however also produced a number of vessels in the ko-Kutani style, as well as Kakiemon porcelain.
  Production suddenly closed down in 1730. The reasons for this closure are debated. Theories put forward include that supplies of the pigments necessary for the glazing were difficult to find, or that there were financial difficulties. A memorial stone stele to Gotō was later erected near an old Kutani ware kiln in Kaga.
caption: The site of old Kutani porcelain kiln (right), the memorial to the founder Gotō Saijirō (left)
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