九谷焼とは/Kutani pottery

謎と多様性に富んだ色絵磁器

九谷焼は石川県南部を中心に生産されている色絵磁器です。その歴史は〈古九谷〉と〈再興九谷〉に大きく別けられます。古九谷は、元禄文化が始まろうとしていた明暦元年(1655年)に、大聖寺藩直営にて雪深い山間の里、加賀国江沼郡九谷村(加賀市山中温泉九谷町)で始まりました。百万石を領した加賀藩は京都や江戸から蒔絵や金工の名工、狩野派の画工も多く招聘し、中国や西洋から文物を収集するなど文化政策に力を注ぎ、分家した大聖寺藩の九谷焼創成にも大きな影響を及ぼしました。豪放華麗な絵柄と筆使いが見る者を圧倒する古九谷ですが、開窯から約五十年後には突然廃絶の道を辿ります。その理由は諸説あるものの未だ定かではなく深い謎に包まれています。そして、その百年後、加賀藩直営で九谷焼再興の先鞭を着けると、以降様々な窯が各地で興り再興九谷の時代に入ります。各窯はその指導者や招聘された画工の好み、または流行によって様々な画風を確立させました。中でも能美郡寺井村(現能美市寺井町)に生まれた九谷庄三は門弟三百余人ともいわれ、庄三が生み出した〈彩色金襴手〉は海外にも輸出され人気を呼びました。このような流れが明治以降今日に至る多様な九谷焼の源流となっています。

Kutani Pottery

A diverse array of colorful porcelain with an enigmatic history

Produced mainly in southern Ishikawa, Kutani pottery is a family of porcelain ware painted with vividly hued images. Its long history is largely divided into two periods, Ko-Kutani and Saiko-Kutani. Ko-kutani (old Kutani) began during the height of the Genroku cultural wave that swept across Japan, a time when the wealthy Kaga Domain (encompassing today’s Ishikawa) avidly supported the arts, amassing Chinese and Western cultural treasures and bringing together from Kyoto and Edo (now Tokyo) many celebrated artists, including Kano-style painters, maki-e lacquerware artisans, and metalcraft experts. This patronage was a big driving force behind the creation of a porcelain manufacturing industry in 1655 in Kutani, a village nestled in snow-covered mountains in the Daishoji Domain, formerly part of the Kaga Domain. Kutani pottery soon became known for the breathtaking beauty of its opulent images and sublime brushwork, but the workshops closed down after just fifty years of operation. Theories abound as to why the industry folded so suddenly, but the actual reason is an enigma lost to time. Yet, Kutani pottery was not forgotten and 100 years later the Kaga Domain ushered in the Saiko-Kutani (revival Kutani) period by restarting production in Kutani and inspiring the establishment of studios in other areas. The different artistic preferences of each studio’s master and invited painters, along with changingtrends, gave birth to a broad spectrum of paintingstyles. Among them was the Saishiki Kinrandestyle developed by Kutani Shoza, a native of Terai Village (now a district of Nomi City) who is said to have attracted more than 300 disciples. This style became a hit both in Japan and abroad, and helped form the foundation for the richly diverse array of Kutani pottery that has emerged since the late 19th century.