Antique Ming Period Ko Akae Chinese Porcelain Dish Kosometsuke Flowers Poem

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Condition Report: Restored section to the rim. Size 20.6cm

One of the coolest pieces I have gotten in the last months. Great decoration with added green and red. This piece has the thing that intrigues me a lot. Green color added to baking flaws on the rim and base. I am always wondering what the relationship is between these Kosometsuke pieces with “kiln damage” and added colors. And also were that color was added? Jingdezhen, Canton (or a coast own) or Japan? Its almost like somebody was buying up misfits and enhanced them to generate a profit

 

Ko-Sometsuke or
“Old Underglaze Blue Porcelain”
There are many ceramic enthusiasts in Japan who have long believed that the blue and white porcelain ware called Ko-sometsuke or “Old Underglase Blue Porcelain” was produced in Japan. This large group of porcelain ware with its variety of forms and designs has been commonly utilized as food containers as well as tea ceremony utensils. In the early 19th century, following the Bunka (1804-1817) and Bunsei (1818-1829) eras of the Edo Period (1603-1868), porcelain kilns throughout Japan copied the forms and designs of these earlier blue and white porcelain ware and produced an assortment of eating and drinking vessels. From the aesthetic standpoint the o-somefswke has been accepted as a Japanese ceramic ware.

Through continued research, it has been discovered in recent years that the Ko-sometsuke, similar to Shontui, Fuyo-de, Gosu-Sometsuke and Gosu-akae (Note: All are specific styles and types of Chinese underglaze blue wares, some with overglaze enamel colors.) have influenced Japanese ceramics all at approximately the same period. These blue and white wares were produced in the folk ceramic kilns in China, and became important export items. A large amount of them were exported to Japan. It would, of course, be impossible to estimate the total number of these items in Japan today. The name Ko-Sometsuke is a name given to the old underglaze blue porcelain by followers of the Japanese tea ceremony and by the literati, and is not an academic terminology.

Most of the underglaze blue porcelain wares described above were produced during the later years On the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), namely during the Tianqi (1621-1627) and Chongzheng (1628-1644) eras. The majority of these wares was produced in the folk ceramic kilns at Jingdezhen. However, they are placed in separate categories from the underglaze blue porcelain ware such as the Gosu-de produced in folk ceramic kilns near Swatow in Fukien Province. Others include the Shonsui and Fuyo-de produced in the folk ceramic kilns at Jingdezhen around the same period. Not only were these objects custom-made according to specific orders from Japan, but they were intermixed with the everyday utensils for the common people in those areas. Therefore, by collecting, studying and researching these Ko-Sometsuke pieces which exist in Japan, we are able to examine one facet of the tea ceremony art of Japan. Further, we are better able to grasp the special features and characteristics of the porcelain works produced in Chinese folk ceramic kilns. It is important that such research be continued to clarify these facts.

With thanks to Kyoto Shoin Kosometsuke book

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