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Ceramic Feature

Sometsuke Chimon Sansui Takarazukushi-Hori Tsubo (染付地文山水宝尽彫壷)

This is an Arita ware jar which Ryuzumi-san has created.
The chimon means that it's filled with the patterns like shippo, koshi, and others.
He engraved the traditional treasure design called takara-mon.
Sansui is the landscape painting using Chinese ink.
Full of nature scene such as mountanis, rivers, valleys and others.

Sometsuke (染付)
- A pottery with blue pictures and patterns on a white background-

It refers to the skill of blue-painting on a unglazed ceramic.
Patterns are painted with a "gosu" containing cobalt oxide that turns blue color.
And it's baked after being glazed on top of it.

Sometsuke has been made from the early days of Arita ware in 1610s.
At first it was influenced the Chinese pottery, there's a pile of efforts by potters and
today's sometsuke has one kind of exquisite beauty even in its simplicity.