Kakiemon elephants
Encyclopedia
The Kakiemon elephants are a pair of 17th century Japanese porcelain figures of elephants in the British Museum
. They were made by one of the Kakiemon
potteries, which created the first enamelled
porcelain in Japan
, and exported by the early Dutch East India Company
. These figures are thought to have been made between 1660 and 1690 and are in the style known as Kakiemon
. They were made near Arita, Saga
on the Japanese
island of Kyūshū
at a time when elephants
would not have been seen in Japan.
this is art based on the best information available. It should be noted that the artists who made these figures had never seen a real elephant and had to work from drawings and sketches; possibly from Buddhist sources. They are made from enamelled porcelain, which would have been a new technology in Japan (and unknown in Europe) at the time they were made. Each elephant is 35.5 cm high, 44 cm long and 14.5 cm wide. The novel near white glaze which is called nigoshide was developed in this Japanese pottery in the seventeenth century. Nigoshide is known for its whiteness and is named after the residue that is left after washing rice. The white ground is decorated with the additional characteristic coloured glazes of red, green, yellow and blue.
who lived from 1596 to 1666. He worked with Higashijima Tokuemon to create this now traditional type of pottery, which was copied by other factories in the area. Kakiemon's descendants continued this style of porcelain but it fell into disuse and it was revived by a twelfth generation descendant, Sakaida Shibonosuke. Kakiemon ware was exported to Europe by the Dutch East India Company through the ports of Imari
and Amsterdam
. This was important early trade between nations that was to establish companies like the Dutch East India Company. England had tried to establish a "factory" (that is, a trading post) in Japan in 1613 under an agreement between King James I
and the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada
but the initiative was abandoned in 1623.
The elephants are now in the British Museum, as part of the collection donated by Sir Harry Garner
.
until it was reestablished under the Qing dynasty
. However in this brief period Kakiemon emerged with this new technique and style. These elephants are thought to have been made in 1660 to 1690. They would have been made by casting into moulds and the remains of broken elephant shaped moulds have been found in modern excavations at Arita. Meissen porcelain
, which was developed in the 18th century, is considered to have been strongly influenced by the Kakiemon Japanese imports.
The milk white glaze called nigoshide, developed by Kakiemon, was not continued at the end of the Edo period. However the technique was rediscovered in 1953 by Sakaida Kakiemon XII (1878-1963) and Sakaida Kakiemon XIII (1906-1982) and was declared a Japanese "Important Intangible Cultural Asset" in 1971. Kakiemon porcelain is currently made under the fourteenth Sakaida Kakiemon.
There are few artefacts like this pair of elephants extant although there is a similar elephant (c.1680) in the Groninger Museum
in the Netherlands and another in the Fitzwilliam Museum
in Cambridge.
, a series of radio programmes that started in 2010 as a collaboration between the BBC
and the British Museum.
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. They were made by one of the Kakiemon
Kakiemon
Kakiemon wares were produced at the factories of Arita, Saga Prefecture, Japan from the mid-17th century, with much in common with the Chinese "Famille Verte" style...
potteries, which created the first enamelled
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
porcelain in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and exported by the early Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. These figures are thought to have been made between 1660 and 1690 and are in the style known as Kakiemon
Kakiemon
Kakiemon wares were produced at the factories of Arita, Saga Prefecture, Japan from the mid-17th century, with much in common with the Chinese "Famille Verte" style...
. They were made near Arita, Saga
Arita, Saga
is a town located in Nishimatsuura District, Saga, Japan. It is known for producing Arita porcelain, one of the traditional handicrafts of Japan. It also holds the largest ceramic fair in Western Japan, the Arita Ceramic Fair...
on the Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
island of Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
at a time when elephants
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
would not have been seen in Japan.
Description
The figures are similar to elephants but differ in some details. Like Dürer's RhinocerosDürer's Rhinoceros
Dürer's Rhinoceros is the name commonly given to a woodcut executed by German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer in 1515. The image was based on a written description and brief sketch by an unknown artist of an Indian rhinoceros that had arrived in Lisbon earlier that year. Dürer never saw the...
this is art based on the best information available. It should be noted that the artists who made these figures had never seen a real elephant and had to work from drawings and sketches; possibly from Buddhist sources. They are made from enamelled porcelain, which would have been a new technology in Japan (and unknown in Europe) at the time they were made. Each elephant is 35.5 cm high, 44 cm long and 14.5 cm wide. The novel near white glaze which is called nigoshide was developed in this Japanese pottery in the seventeenth century. Nigoshide is known for its whiteness and is named after the residue that is left after washing rice. The white ground is decorated with the additional characteristic coloured glazes of red, green, yellow and blue.
Provenance
These ceramics came from the pottery of Sakaida KakiemonSakaida Kakiemon
Sakaida Kakiemon , or Sakaida Kizaemon was a Japanese potter who invented the style known after him as Kakiemon. He worked in association with Higashijima Tokue, and created the first enamelled porcelain in Japan...
who lived from 1596 to 1666. He worked with Higashijima Tokuemon to create this now traditional type of pottery, which was copied by other factories in the area. Kakiemon's descendants continued this style of porcelain but it fell into disuse and it was revived by a twelfth generation descendant, Sakaida Shibonosuke. Kakiemon ware was exported to Europe by the Dutch East India Company through the ports of Imari
Imari, Saga
is a city located in Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. Imari is most notable because of Imari porcelain, which is the European collectors' name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, Saga Prefecture. The porcelain was exported from the port of Imari specifically for...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. This was important early trade between nations that was to establish companies like the Dutch East India Company. England had tried to establish a "factory" (that is, a trading post) in Japan in 1613 under an agreement between King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
and the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada
Tokugawa Hidetada
was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.-Early life :...
but the initiative was abandoned in 1623.
The elephants are now in the British Museum, as part of the collection donated by Sir Harry Garner
Harry Garner
Harry Garner was an expert on aerodynamics who was known as British expert and collector of oriental ceramics.-Biography:Garner was one of three boys and a daughter. His eldest brother "W.E.Garner" was born in Hugglescote in Leicestershire in 1889 and became an expert in explosives. His other...
.
Importance
The emergence of enamelled porcelain near Arita in Kyushu began Kakiemon-style decoration in overglazed coloured enamels. The success of the Japanese was due to the failure of the Chinese industry under the Ming DynastyMing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
until it was reestablished under the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. However in this brief period Kakiemon emerged with this new technique and style. These elephants are thought to have been made in 1660 to 1690. They would have been made by casting into moulds and the remains of broken elephant shaped moulds have been found in modern excavations at Arita. Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
, which was developed in the 18th century, is considered to have been strongly influenced by the Kakiemon Japanese imports.
The milk white glaze called nigoshide, developed by Kakiemon, was not continued at the end of the Edo period. However the technique was rediscovered in 1953 by Sakaida Kakiemon XII (1878-1963) and Sakaida Kakiemon XIII (1906-1982) and was declared a Japanese "Important Intangible Cultural Asset" in 1971. Kakiemon porcelain is currently made under the fourteenth Sakaida Kakiemon.
There are few artefacts like this pair of elephants extant although there is a similar elephant (c.1680) in the Groninger Museum
Groninger Museum
The Groninger Museum is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Groningen, Netherlands.-Background:Although not as well known as other Dutch institutions of fine art, the Groninger Museum was founded in 1894...
in the Netherlands and another in the Fitzwilliam Museum
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
in Cambridge.
A History of the World in 100 Objects
This sculpture was featured in A History of the World in 100 ObjectsA History of the World in 100 Objects
A History of the World in 100 Objects was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, comprising a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor...
, a series of radio programmes that started in 2010 as a collaboration between the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and the British Museum.