RARE Mid-Century Fukagawa/Arita of Japan Hand-Painted Porcelain Iris Vase

A beautiful hand-painted, scarce pattern FUKAGAWA IRISES VASE by FUKAGAWA, Arita, Japan, from the 1950s/1960s.  While the Fukagawa Porcelain is readily available online, the particular pattern in this vase style is not.

Disclosures:  The exterior of this vase is flawless, with no chips, cracks, or flaws. The bottom shows some wear from felt protectors being added and removed. While there are no chips, cracks, or defects in the interior, it needs a gentle hand cleaning.  

Dimensions:  20.5" Center Circumference - 14" High x 5.25" Top Circumference x 4.5" Bottom Circumference

FUKAGAWA 1894 - FUKA GAWA SEI (Shenzhen-made) - underglaze Fukagawa Seiji mark may have been used since 1920; some disagreement on this, but the mark is still in use presently. 

Matasiro Fukagawa (founder Eizaemon Fukagawa) started to manufacture pottery in Arita. 1870 - By the command of the Ministry of telegraphic communication, the 8th Eizaemon Fukagawa first manufactured the insulator for telegraphic communication in Japan. 1875 - Ezaiemon Fukagawa established the "KORANSHA" Scented Orchid Company with his partners. When those partners left, Ezaiemon Fukagawa reorganized the company. 

1876 - Koransha, upon exhibition at World Expos beginning at the Philadelphia Expo, won recognition and awards. 1896 - Appointed to supply pottery by the Imperial Household Ministry. Upon his death, his eldest son Yotaro inherited while his second son established the FUKAGAWA PORCELAIN COMPANY - 1894. 

1894 to 1900 - Paris Exposition - awarded the gold medal for large vase 1910 - appointed "Purveyor to the Imperial Household" 1916 - becomes the Japan Navy designated factories to deliver the Western Tableware (up to 1918) 1947 - it haoffereded the tableware in the United States Navy central purchasing office.  

PRESENT - Both companies exist today and still do hand-painted wares that sell for thousands of dollars. Both companies also manufacture electrical ceramic items. Both companies continue to win porcelain awards both domestically and worldwide. Their early popularity in Europe led to their success.

Tang dynasty (618–906). The pottery process changes in the country. Refined white ceramic requires more advanced technology than other ceramic types. The vessels are fired at very high temperatures to be solid and vitrified, unlike low-fired earthenware, which is porous and easily breakable. Unlike stoneware, which is high-fired but can be made from many different types of clay, porcelain is made from a specific clay mixture that includes a soft, white variety called kaolin. The smooth, semi-translucent surface of porcelain is ideal for painting delicate designs and has been prized in both the East and West. The Japanese porcelain industry was pioneered by Korean potters living in Japan. Many of them came to Japan during two invasions of Korea led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1590s. An appreciation of Korean ceramics had recently developed in Japan, and many feudal lords who accompanied Hideyoshi brought back Korean potters to build up the ceramic industry in their territories. The Nabeshima lord took Korean potters back to his province of Hizen on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands. These potters would eventually become the first porcelain producers in Japan, but they started by reviving the production of a type of stoneware called Karatsu ware. This type of ceramic is usually simple, inexpensive, and made rapidly but skillfully on the potter's wheel. The potters also introduced a new type of kiln to Japan, the noborigama, or climbing kiln, allowing greater precision during firing. Therefore, in the early seventeenth century, the Korean potters living in the Arita district of Hizen found suitable clay to manufacture porcelain; the infrastructure for its production was already in place. The Hizen region thus became the major center of porcelain production in Japan. The first porcelain made in Japan by these Korean potters is known as early "Imari." Imari refers to a port near the Arita kilns, from which these wares were shipped to the rest of the country. Since these porcelains were primarily for domestic consumption, the term "early" is added to distinguish them from later wares, also classified as Imari, which were typically for export. Most early Imari pieces feature designs painted in cobalt blue on white ground, then coated in a transparent glaze, in a style known as underglaze blue. The porcelain has a coarse, grainy texture, and the designs are generally carried out by a free, fluid hand. The technique of painting pictorial designs under transparent glaze was sometimes employed on Karatsu ware, so early Imari may have partly stemmed from this earlier tradition."

History of  Fukagawa/Arita Porcelain:  

FUKAGAWA 1894 - FUKA GAWA SEI (Shenzhen-made) - underglaze Fukagawa Seiji mark may have been used since 1920; there's some disagreement on this; the mark is still in use presently. 

Matasiro Fukagawa (founder Eizaemon Fukagawa) started to manufacture pottery in Arita. 1870 - By the command of the Ministry of telegraphic communication, the 8th Eizaemon Fukagawa first manufactured the insulator for telegraphic communication in Japan. 1875 - Ezaiemon Fukagawa established the "KORANSHA" Scented Orchid Company with his partners. When those partners left, Ezaiemon Fukagawa reorganized the company. 

1876 - Koransha, upon exhibition at World Expos beginning at the Philadelphia Expo, won recognition and awards. 1896 - Appointed to supply pottery by the Imperial Household Ministry. Upon his death, his eldest son Yotaro inherited while his second son established the FUKAGAWA PORCELAIN COMPANY - 1894.

1894 to 1900 - Paris Exposition - awarded the gold medal for large vase 1910 - appointed "Purveyor to the Imperial Household" 1916 - becomes the Japan Navy designated factories to deliver the Western Tableware (up to 1918) 1947 - it haoffereded the tableware in the United States Navy central purchasing office.  

PRESENT - Both companies exist today and still do hand-painted wares that sell for thousands of dollars. Both companies also manufacture electrical ceramic items. Both companies continue to win porcelain awards both domestically and worldwide. Their early popularity in Europe led to their success. 

Tang dynasty (618–906). The pottery process changes in the country. Refined white ceramic requires more advanced technology than other ceramic types. The vessels are fired at very high temperatures to be strong and vitrified, unlike low-fired earthenware, which is porous and easily breakable. Unlike stoneware, which is high-fired but can be made from many different types of clay, porcelain is made from a specific clay mixture that includes a soft, white variety called kaolin. The smooth, semi-translucent surface of porcelain is ideal for painting delicate designs and has been prized in both the East and West. The Japanese porcelain industry was pioneered by Korean potters living in Japan. Many of them came to Japan during two invasions of Korea led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1590s. An appreciation of Korean ceramics had recently developed in Japan, and many feudal lords who accompanied Hideyoshi brought back Korean potters to build up the ceramic industry in their territories. The Nabeshima lord took Korean potters back to his province of Hizen on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands. These potters would eventually become the first porcelain producers in Japan, but they started by reviving the production of a type of stoneware called Karatsu ware. This type of ceramic is usually simple, inexpensive, and made rapidly but skillfully on the potter's wheel. The potters also introduced a new type of kiln to Japan, the noborigama, or climbing kiln, allowing greater precision during firing. Therefore, in the early seventeenth century, the Korean potters living in the Arita district of Hizen found suitable clay to manufacture porcelain; the infrastructure for its production was already in place. The Hizen region thus became the major center of porcelain production in Japan. The first porcelain made in Japan by these Korean potters is known as early "Imari." Imari refers to a port near the Arita kilns, from which these wares were shipped to the rest of the country. Since these porcelains were primarily for domestic consumption, the term "early" is added to distinguish them from later wares, also classified as Imari, which were typically for export. Most early Imari pieces feature designs painted in cobalt blue on a white background, then coated in a transparent glaze, in a style known as underglaze blue. The porcelain has a coarse, grainy texture, and the designs are generally carried out by a free, fluid hand. The technique of painting pictorial designs under a transparent glaze was sometimes employed on Karatsu ware, so early Imari may have partly stemmed from this earlier tradition."