Manufacturing Imari Porcelain in Hizen [Province], figure 2 from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan)

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Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Manufacturing Imari Porcelain in Hizen [Province],

figure 2

from the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue

(Products of Greater Japan)

by Utagawa Hiroshige III, 1877

IHL Cat. #1494

About This Print

One of 118 prints in the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan), issued in August 1877 to coincide with the opening of Japan’s first National Industrial Exposition (Naikoku Kangyō Hakurankai) held in Tokyo’s Ueno Park, depicting fired Imari porcelain being taken from the kiln and being painted. "Imari" refers to the port near Arita in Hizen from which the pottery was shipped. Porcelain production pioneered by Korean potters living in Japan began in the early seventeenth century.¹

See IHL Cat. #1499 Manufacturing Imari Porcelain, figure 1 in Hizen [Province], figure 1 which depicts the making of Imari porcelain.

The artist based many of his designs on the designs that appeared in the 1799 book Nihon Sankai Meisan Zue (Famous Sea and Land Products in Japan), leaving some question whether everything Hiroshige III portrayed in the series was truly the "state of the art" in 1877 when the series was issued. (Although for manyactivities pictured, things would have looked much the same in 1877 as in 1799.) In many cases, the information in the scroll is also copied from the earlier work.

click on image to enlarge

同素燒窯同過銹

同打圈書画?

Illustration of painting Imari pottery in Hizen from Nihon Sankai Meisan Zue (Famous Sea and Land Products in Japan), 1799

Hizen Province (肥前国 Hizen no kuni) was an old province ofJapan in the area of Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called Hishū (肥州), with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō. It did not include the regions of Tsushima and Iki that are now part of modern Nagasaki Prefecture.²

Multiple Editions (Variant Printings)

At least three variant printings (editions) were made of this series. Each variant printing uses a different colored cartouche containing the series' title, either red, green or rainbow-colored. Different colored borders were also used and variances in the use of colors and shading are present in the three editions.

Scroll Inscription

Source: with thanks to Yajifun http://yajifun.tumblr.com/

大日本物産圖會肥前伊万里陶器造図二　三代目歌川広重　1877年

“凡器（ウツハ）を造（ツク）るに形押円器の両種ありといへとも円器を第一の用品とす先土中に三尺程乃穴を堀中に車を仕かけて車の真中に土を置車ハ足にて廻し両手を以て上の土を押捧（オシサゝ）け指にて心の侭に器を作り陰干（カゲホシ）にして素焼きの釜に入薪を用ゐて度量（ドリヤウ）をさつし火をけしてそのまゝさし取いだして水にてあらひ書画をかきて本釜へ入て燒なり　「スヤキ釜ノ図」「クスリヲ掛タルヲエ図」「ヌノニテミカク」「画ヲカク図」”

¹ Metropolitan Museum of Art website http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpor/hd_jpor.htm

² Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizen_Province

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#1494
Title or Description	Manufacturing Imari Porcelain in Hizen, figure 2 肥前伊万里陶器造図二 Hizen imari tōki tsukuru zu ni
Series	Dai Nippon Bussan Zue 大日本物産図会 (Products of Greater Japan)
Artist	Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894)
Signature	Andō Tokubei - artist's family name appearing in the bottom of the cartouche in the left margin (partially trimmed on this print)Full cartouche reads 画工大鋸町四番地安藤徳兵エ [gakō Ōga machi yon banchi Andō Tokubei]
Seal	none
Publication Date	1877 (Meiji 10)
Publisher	Ōkura Magobei 大倉孫兵衛 (Kin'eido; 1843-1921) [Marks: pub. ref. 627] appearing in right margin (almost completely trimmed from this print) Full cartouche reads 出版人日本橋通一丁目十九番地大倉孫兵衛 (Publisher, Nihobashi-dōri Itchōme 19-banchi, Ōkura Magobei)
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - centerfold reinforced by tape on verso; multiple paper losses along bottom margin
Genre	nishiki-e; kaika-e
Miscellaneous
Format	chuban
H x W Paper	6 3/4 x 9 3/16 in. (17.1 x 23.3 cm)
H x W Image	6 3/8 x 9 in. (16.2 x 22.9 cm)
Literature
Collections This Print	Waseda University Library Archives 01_04265_0001; National Institutes for theHumanities H-22-1-30-7-6