Nabeshima ware (鍋島焼, Nabeshima-yaki) is a type of Japanese pottery, specifically an unusually high-quality porcelain. It was produced in Ōkawachi kilns managed directly by the Saga Domain under the Nabeshima clan from the 17th to the 19th centuries.^[1] Imari ware and Arita ware were also under the control of the Saga Domain, and Nabeshima ware is sometimes regarded as a variant of Imari ware, as its kilns were located in what is now the city of Imari, Saga Prefecture Japan. The technique also differs from that of most Japanese porcelain, with the outlines of the pattern done in underglaze blue before the overglaze "enamelled" final decoration.^[2] Nabeshima ware was not made for sale, but for the specific use of the Nabeshima clan and as gifts for the Tokugawa shogunate and various daimyō.^[3] It was discontinued in 1871 with the abolition of the feudal domains, but the technique was revived as a modern craft by the Imaizumi Imaemon family, descendants of the master lineage, and has continued to the 21st century.^[2]

Arita and Imari in Hizen Province are known as Japan's leading porcelain production areas. In China, porcelain was first produced at the end of the Han dynasty, and various types of porcelain were produced mainly in Jingdezhen from the Song dynasty onwards. However, in Japan, pottery and unglazed fired pottery were the mainstream for a long time, and porcelain production only began in the early 17th century. Following the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), many potters from Korea were brought to Japan by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and various daimyō , and their techniques led to the creation of ceramic production areas throughout Kyushu. Takatori ware, Agano ware, Karatsu ware, and other types were all founded by potters who came from Korea. Imari ware, which was produced in kilns in Arita and the surrounding areas and shipped from the port of Imari, was also founded based on the techniques brought over by potters from Korea. In 1616, Korean potter Ri Sanpei discovered white porcelain clay in Izumiyama, Arita, and porcelain production began at the Nabeshima clan's Tengudani Kiln. Excavations at the kiln site have revealed that porcelain was first fired not at Tengudani Kiln but at a kiln in the west of Arita, but in any case, it is generally accepted that Japanese porcelain production began in Hizen Province around the 1610s

The exact time and circumstances when "Nabeshima ware" began to be produced as a domain product, apart from Imari ware, are unclear, as there are no official domain records remaining. According to oral history, Nabeshima ware was first made in Iwayagawachi, Arita in 1628, and the kiln was moved to Nangawara, Arita around 1661, and then moved to Ōkawachi, located in the mountains between Arita and Imari, in 1675. However, there is much controversy over these dates and whether or not the small leaf-shaped or fruit-shaped colored plates produced at Iwayagawachi or Nangawara can be called "Nabeshima", most experts agree that "Nabeshima" is generally considered to be a product of the Ōkawachi kiln.

As a result of excavation surveys of the Ōkawachi kiln site conducted after 1952, many of the porcelain fragments excavated matched those handed down through the generations, and it has been academically confirmed that Nabeshima was produced in Ōkawachi. However, there are few Nabeshima pieces with an inscription indicating date of production, and the same patterns are often used for a long period of time, making it difficult to track changes in style over time. This was recognized even from the early Edo Period, as surviving official documents often complained that the Nabeshima style "has become monotonous" and encouraging the adoption of products from other kilns with more innovative designs. One of the patterns used is Karako (唐子) with the depiction of Chinese children playing. Official documents also make frequent complaints after late delivery from the Ōkawachi kiln.

Production of Nabeshima ware ended in 1871, but the techniques and traditions of Nabeshima have been revived and passed down by the Imaizumi Imaemon family. The 9th Imaizumi Imaemon died in 1873, two years after the abolition of the kiln, and the 10th Imaemon (1847-1927) took over as head of the family at the age of 26. In traditional Nabeshima ware, the underglaze and final firing processes were carried out in Ōkawachi, while the overglaze process was carried out in Akaemachi. However, the 10th Imaemon built a climbing kiln himself and established an integrated production system in his own workshop, from shaping, underglaze and final firing to overglaze. The 11th Imaemon (1873-1948) produced items for the Imperial Household of Japan, and produced not only plates, which had been Nabeshima's mainstay, but also a variety of vessels suited to modern life. The 12th Imaemon (1897-1975) produced pieces incorporating contemporary designs, and the Iro Nabeshima Technique Preservation Society, which he established, has been recognized as a holder of the Important Intangible Cultural Property "Iro Nabeshima" designation. After his death, the Important Intangible Cultural Property designation was lifted in 1975, but in 1976, the Iro Nabeshima Imaemon Technique Preservation Society, represented by the 13th Imaemon (1926-2001), was redesignated as a preservation organization. He was also recognized as Living National Treasure, and developed a technique called "usuzumi" (light ink) that uses uranium oxide as a coloring agent. After his death of the 14th Imaemon (1962- ), his second son, took over the name in 2002, and in 2014, was also recognized a Living National Treasure.

The earliest document that introduces Nabeshima ware to the western world is said to be Japan and China subtitled Their History Arts and Literature (1901) by Francis Brinkley. Physicist and House of Peers member Masatoshi Ōkōchi (1878-1952) was also a noted ceramics researcher, is credited with the first work on Nabeshima ware in Japanese, "Kakiemon and Iro Nabeshima" in 1916.

The main products of Nabeshima ware were circular plates, with standardized diameters, typically in sets of five or ten pieces with the same design. There are also tripod plates with short legs around the base, octagonal plates, and deformed plates such as flower-shaped plates., but these are comparatively rare. Nabeshima plates have a unique shape called mokuhai-gata, which has a high base when viewed from the side and a taut curve from the base to the edge.. Although there are also products such as vases and bottles, lidded bowls, and incense burners, there are only a few examples of each. Tea wares, which were actively produced at other kilns in the same period, were never produced at Nabeshima.

In addition to the colored painting known as "Iro-Nabeshima," occasionally "blue-and-white" designs using cobalt blue, celadon or a rusty glaze are known to exist. The most common "Iro-Nabeshima" is a technique in which a design is painted over a vessel with a blue-and-white design, and then the vessel is fired again with a low-temperature oxidizing flame. "Iro-Nabeshima" generally uses only the three colors red, yellow, and green, and occasionally black and purple are used, but as a rule, gold leaf, as seen in Imari, is not used. In China and other Japanese kilns, celadon glaze is generally used alone, but Nabeshima often combines celadon with blue and white glaze and colored paintings, such as "blue and white glaze" and "blue and white painting". The patterns are diverse, including geometric designs such as chintz and snowflake patterns, stylized drawings of plants, vegetables, and utensils, and pictorial landscapes, but all of them are characterized by their purely Japanese designs, which distinguishes them from Imari ware, which was modeled on Chinese traditions.^[4] Some Nabeshima works also depict subjects that have no allegorical or symbolic meaning, such as radishes, carrots, and eggplants. Some Nabeshima plates from the heyday have designs that only appear on the edges, with the center left blank^[5] A distinctive feature of Nabeshima plates is that the top and bottom of the design on the front and back are linked. On the back of the plate, three pattern units are arranged at equal intervals, so that one of the corners of the triangle they form coincides with the upper part of the image on the front of the plate. The sides of the foot often feature a comb-tooth pattern. It is customary to leave no inscriptions within the foot, and to finish it in solid white.

The Ōkawachi kiln site (大川内鍋島窯跡, Ōkawachi Nabeshima kama ato) was designated a National Historic Site in 2003.^[6] Currently, the remains of the official kiln, dumping ground for defective products, storage hut for refractory containers, pottery production site, the clan official residence, and the potter's residences remain over a wide area within the historic site. The kiln is estimated to have a horizontal length of about 137 meters, 27 to 30 firing chambers, and a stepped multi-chambered climbing kiln structure. Nabeshima ware was fired in the three central chambers where the fire was the hottest, while the other chambers were used to fire non-Nabeshima ware products. This kiln site is about 10 minutes by car from Imari Station on the JR Kyushu Chikuhi Line. ^[7]

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  Bowl with gourd flasks design, 18th century, porcelain with enamel
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  Plate with floral design in the Kakiemon style, Arita, late 17th century, Edo period
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  Dish with hollyhock design and small kintsugi repair on top, overglaze enamel, 18th century, Edo period)

• Ford, Barbara Brennan, and Oliver R. Impey, Japanese Art from the Gerry Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN 0-87099-556-1, fully online
• Smith, Lawrence, Harris, Victor and Clark, Timothy, Japanese Art: Masterpieces in the British Museum, 1990, British Museum Publications, ISBN 0714114464

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nabeshima ware.

• Japan Heritage(in Japanese)
• Imari city official home page(in Japanese)
• Saga Prefecture Cultural Properties(in Japanese)