Gosu? Blue and white? Somenishiki? What is the relationship between these three?
When researching pottery and porcelain, you will come across many industry-specific terms such as gosu, blue and white porcelain, and somenishiki porcelain, which can be difficult to understand. So, this time we will explain what gosu, blue and white porcelain, and somenishiki porcelain are.
There is natural gosu and chemically made synthetic gosu.
In Japan, gosu has been mined from around 1665 in the areas of Seto, Tajimi, and Toki in Aichi Prefecture. This natural gosu was managed by the Owari Domain. It contains a lot of impurities, so it is not used in Arita ware.
Until the early Meiji period, the gosu used in Arita ware was imported from China. The name "gosu" comes from the local name for natural gosu in China. There are also other types of natural gosu called Sumaruto and Huiqing that are produced in Islamic countries.
So, gosu is the raw material, and blue and white porcelain is the ceramics that use that gosu.
There are many types of traditional patterns that can be painted with blue and white porcelain.
As a representative example,
1. Plants... Chrysanthemum, peony, plum, pine, bamboo, willow, wisteria, vines, arabesques, ginkgo, pomegranate, peach, paulownia, cherry blossom, camellia, lotus, water lily, iris, reed, pampas grass, orchid, poppy, bellflower, daffodil, banana, palm, vegetables, cloves, flowers, grass, horsetail, broken branch flowers, bouquets, grass bunches, mosquito nettle, female grass, flower trays, trees, oak, leaves, flowers, ginger, water plants
2.Animals... birds, rabbits, rain dragons, lions, kirin, deers, shrimp, shellfish, fish, butterflies, insects, dragonflies, spider webs, people
3. Buildings and objects... gazebos, towers, houses, fences, pagodas, bridges, ships, flags, nets, bundles of firewood, fans, fan-faced items, round fans, arrow feathers, gift wrapping, objects
4.Nature...Mountains, rocks, mud, water, snow, clouds, moon
5.Auspicious/geometry... Treasure, jade, eight trigrams, 瓔珞, Nyoi head, Nyoi cloud, cross flower, Chinese flower, nine days, star plum bowl, twist, tomoe, circle, mari-pin, circle, geometric text
6. Characters... Fukuju, Happiness, Longevity, Auspicious Characters, Tanzaku, Country/Era Name
There is.
If you would like to purchase our Gosu, you can do so from this link.
What is Gosu?
First, about gosu. Gosu is the name of the raw material.There is natural gosu and chemically made synthetic gosu.
Natural Gosu
Natural gosu is a stone called asbolite in English.In Japan, gosu has been mined from around 1665 in the areas of Seto, Tajimi, and Toki in Aichi Prefecture. This natural gosu was managed by the Owari Domain. It contains a lot of impurities, so it is not used in Arita ware.
Until the early Meiji period, the gosu used in Arita ware was imported from China. The name "gosu" comes from the local name for natural gosu in China. There are also other types of natural gosu called Sumaruto and Huiqing that are produced in Islamic countries.
Synthetic Gosu
Synthetic gosu was developed in Japan in the early Meiji period by the brothers Suminosuke and Takeji Shinkai under the advice of the German chemist Wagner. It uses cobalt as its main ingredient. Other ingredients such as iron, nickel, and kaolin are mixed in to create a variety of colors.What is blue and white porcelain?
Sometsuke is a type of ceramic ware that is made by decorating a white bisque fired (fired at around 900℃) with gosu painting, then applying a transparent glaze and firing it again (fired at 1200-1300℃).So, gosu is the raw material, and blue and white porcelain is the ceramics that use that gosu.
There are many types of traditional patterns that can be painted with blue and white porcelain.
As a representative example,
1. Plants... Chrysanthemum, peony, plum, pine, bamboo, willow, wisteria, vines, arabesques, ginkgo, pomegranate, peach, paulownia, cherry blossom, camellia, lotus, water lily, iris, reed, pampas grass, orchid, poppy, bellflower, daffodil, banana, palm, vegetables, cloves, flowers, grass, horsetail, broken branch flowers, bouquets, grass bunches, mosquito nettle, female grass, flower trays, trees, oak, leaves, flowers, ginger, water plants
2.Animals... birds, rabbits, rain dragons, lions, kirin, deers, shrimp, shellfish, fish, butterflies, insects, dragonflies, spider webs, people
3. Buildings and objects... gazebos, towers, houses, fences, pagodas, bridges, ships, flags, nets, bundles of firewood, fans, fan-faced items, round fans, arrow feathers, gift wrapping, objects
4.Nature...Mountains, rocks, mud, water, snow, clouds, moon
5.Auspicious/geometry... Treasure, jade, eight trigrams, 瓔珞, Nyoi head, Nyoi cloud, cross flower, Chinese flower, nine days, star plum bowl, twist, tomoe, circle, mari-pin, circle, geometric text
6. Characters... Fukuju, Happiness, Longevity, Auspicious Characters, Tanzaku, Country/Era Name
There is.
What is Somenishiki?
Somenishiki is a porcelain that is decorated with overglaze painting and then fired at 700-800℃. The overglaze painting is also called Nishiki-de, as it is mainly decorated with gold or red. For this reason, the name Somenishiki comes from the combination of "Some" and "Nishiki-de". Incidentally, it is called "Overglaze painting" because the decoration is done on top of the glaze.summary
In summary, gosu is the raw material, sometsuke is decoration using gosu, and somenishiki is "some" tsuke + "nishiki" hand. This time, we explained the terms gosu, sometsuke, and somenishiki. If you have any questions about gosu, please feel free to contact Shinkai Shoten.If you would like to purchase our Gosu, you can do so from this link.
この記事の執筆者
佐賀県有田町出身。深海家13 代目。株式会社深海商店後継者。先祖は有田焼始祖の一人である百婆仙。熊本大学理学部理学科卒業後、東京の大手経営コンサルティング会社にて勤務。2021年8月に有田町にUターンし、有田焼及び肥前窯業圏の再興を使命に東奔西走する。