Japanese flavour – Tokkuri & Guinomi

Kutani is very delicately worked with hair fine brush work for minute detail and an all-over design. Stippling and tiny crosshatch marks were employed, and many attractive Oriental scenes were recreated with a remarkably stylized and distinctly Oriental sense of design.

Meaning “Nine Valleys”, Kutani is a general term for the style of porcelain produced by different kilns in the province of Kaga in Japan. The exact origin of Kutani porcelain remains murky, but it began in the 17th century. One of the first types of pottery produced has incised lines and is glazed in green, dark blue, light purple, red and yellow. The second type is very reminiscent of Imari, another type of Japanese porcelain, with a bold graphic style of decoration in red, blue and white. Both of these styles are called Ko-Kutani, literally “Old Kutani” and are rarely seen.

My latest buy …. a kutani signed set of seven sake cups (Guinomi) and two sake botles (Tokkuri) depicting:

the seven gods of fortune or

the seven happy gods or

the seven lucky gods.

.. aditional pictures in the “Japanese flavour” photo album ..