How old is It? Clues on Dating Satsuma Wares

The appreciation for Satsuma pottery is not only determined by the quality of the piece itself but also by the date when it was made. As with all pottery and porcelain, determining the exact age of a Satsuma object is not easy. Since most pieces do not carry an actual date or date code (and most of the dates appearing are actually apocryphal), dating has to be inferred from the characteristics of the piece and a knowledge of the history of production of Satsuma.

Most commonly, Western collectors, museums and auction houses date Satsuma ware by what they consider to be the applicable Japanese reign era name (ie Meiji (1868-1912); Taisho (1912-26); early Showa (1926-40); or Showa (1926-89)). At least one museum combines all of Meiji with Taisho (ie 1868-1926).

This is not altogether satisfactory, for two reasons. Firstly, some of these periods are short (eg Taisho) and others are quite long (eg Meiji and Showa). Many important stylistic developments took place during the Meiji period and it is therefore unhelpful to put all Meiji era pieces into a single category. More helpful is to divide Meiji’s 44 years into three – early, mid and late Meiji. Perhaps 1868 -1885 is a reasonable criterion for early Meiji; 1885-1900 for mid-Meiji; and 1895-1912 for late Meiji.

Secondly and more controversially, we know of no reason why Satsuma decorative styles and fashions should change with the end of an emperor’s reign. As is clearly demonstrated on the When Were Satsuma Wares Produced? page, production of Satsuma wares was primarily responsive to major market fluctuations in the West (both increases and decreases in demand).

On that basis, it seems more likely that “late Meiji style” persisted after the change in emperor in 1912, only to be disrupted by a major decrease in European demand shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Likewise, “Taisho style” is considered likely to have persisted after 1926 until the Great Depression hit the West in 1929. On this basis, “early Showa style” would date from around 1930 until 1940, when Japan entered World War II.

On this page we suggest a number of characteristics to consider when evaluating the age of Satsuma pottery.

• Mid-Meiji Era

This period saw a large expansion of the focus on figures representing the past glories of Japan – samurai; scholars in discussion (with or without attendants); Chinese boys (karako) playing or dancing; mythological and legendary figures; and various Buddhist and other deities and rakan. The use of major reserves on the front and reverse of vases etc to frame these subjects led to all the space outside the reserves being filled with diapers or brocades. Again, these brocades (eg clove pattern) were commonly reasonably roughly applied.

The use of gold increased, both on moriage outlining and in painted gold features.

Vases, particularly poorer quality Awata ware, began to significantly reflect European tastes in their shapes and applied ornamentation.

• Late Meiji Era

Late Meiji Satsuma saw the peak of detailed and careful decoration, both in figures and brocade diapers. The great majority of the surface (if not the entirety) was usually covered with enamel, wash and gilt decoration. The best decorators (eg Ryozan and Yabu Meizan) developed a very precise and painterly style using very fine brushwork.

A popular new development was scenes of domestic Japanese life, such as strolling geisha and their attendants; family scenes set in parklands or verandahs; cherry blossom viewing and the like. These were commonly set in large pictorial reserves, surrounded by varied and very detailed diapers. Other popular themes were bijin, traditional processions (perhaps of a daimyo and retainers) and festival scenes.

It is thought that it was Kinkōzan who, in the late 19^th century, first applied the imported cobalt blue in a new dark blue glaze. This glaze was a perfect base for detailed gilt brocades and was commonly used as a ground which framed pictorial reserves. This major stylistic development was soon copied by other decorators and became very popular in export markets during late Meiji. Apart from being very attractive, it must also have been much cheaper to produce than the very detailed brocades used by Ryozan, Matsumoto Hozan and others. Kinkōzan also introduced other solid-colour grounds (eg chocolate brown and dark green), but these were not so successful as the deep blue.

Yabu Meizan produced detailed “all-over” floral decoration (millefleur or hanazume) patterns, with each individual flower beautifully rendered.

Gold continued to be a strong stylistic element.

• Post-War Era

Better quality Kyo-Satsuma wares, eg those produced by Koshida for the tourist market, were decorated with floral bouquets and the like, with simple gold bands on the top rim and simple gilt-on-iron red rim borders (generally like those of Taisho and early Showa). Gold ground could be sprayed and gold lines were commonly used to provide detail within petals and flowers. Some of these pieces are quite good quality, but are seldom recognised as dating from the 1960s-80s.

Poorer quality work used bright moriage enamels; simple, rushed motifs; brassy gilding and an overemphasis on the Satsuma mon.  

• Kagoshima Satsuma

Kagoshima Satsuma generally displays the characteristic haku ji yaki paste, very fine crackle and simple motifs of the major Naeshirogawa kilns. Decoration at this time remained mostly simple and delicate representations of nature - birds and flowers (kacho-ga); blossoms with butterflies or other insects, and floral bouquets, set off by white space and bordering nishikide (diaper or brocade) designs. Decorators were careful not to cover the whole body with decoration, in order to better show the beauty of the fine crackled earthenware.

• Mid-Meiji Era

As far as is known, the pace of change in enamel colours during mid-Meiji was not significant. The pigments and enamels introduced by Wagener continued in use. More significant changes took place in decorative styles and motifs.

However, many existing enamels were applied as raised dots and lines – moriage technique. Colours include Indian red, black, white and dark green.

Another significant introduction was the use of spray-painted grounds, perhaps in the mid-1880s. Many different colours were used, including sky, bright and deep blues; yellows; greens; cerise; red and lavender.[5] Sometimes, two colours were used, with gradational shading between them.  Taizan Yohei IX was the best proponent of this style.

• Late Meiji Era

As in mid-Meiji, the pace of change in enamels during late Meiji was not great. More significant changes took place in decorative styles and motifs.

However, some brighter enamels, including an attractive burnt orange, were in use.

• Taisho and Early Showa Eras

Some cheaper pieces featured the use of strong, glassy moriage enamels. These enamels included pale yellow, dark green, crimson, orange, black, white and gold. These sometimes gauche and hastily applied enamels are generally not appealing to collectors.

Dark-coloured matt backgrounds were used as a means of simplifying decoration and setting off the gold decoration and slip (moriage) enamelling.[6] They include matt dark chocolate brown, matt red-brown and matt black. The black was used in combination with scenes (commonly temples in landscapes) painted purely in gold. These all seem to date to the 1920s and 1930s.

• Post-War Era

The use of strong, glassy moriage enamels continued on some of the poorer quality pieces aimed primarily at the Occupation forces and later US military bases. Gold on these pieces may be glassy and mirror-like.

The higher quality pieces aimed at the developing middle-class tourist market featured strong, clean, bright enamels and colour washes. Lots of gold was included in the decoration, principally as linear overpainting of the design to give it better definition.

• English Language Marks

In general, one can say that Western texts are not found on Satsuma pottery made in Meiji or earlier periods. This is despite the passage of the McKinley Tariff Act 1891, which introduced English language “country of origin” labelling for foreign goods imported into the United States.

It is not known why Satsuma ware (as well as Banko earthenware and Imari and similar porcelains) remained unmarked, while all Japanese factory-made porcelain dinnerware, vases and ornaments were stamped “Nippon” or “Made in Nippon” from 1891 to 1920, when the requirement was changed to require “Japan” or “Made in Japan”. The absence of these marks is so universal that it is suggested there must have been some exemption under the Act for “artisanal wares” or the like. However, we have not yet been able to confirm this.

English language marks began to be used during the latter half of the Taisho period. There are known stamped Kinkōzan marks that include either “Nippon” or “Japan” which probably date to the 1920s. In the 1920s, Kinkōzan also used a paper label with the English words “Kinkōzan, Kyoto-Japan”, in addition to the hand-painted kanji studio name. He also used a "Japan" or "Made in Japan" stamp in combination with a painted name in kanji or a stamped name Kinkōzan in English or kanji.[9]

The English words ‘Hand painted’ and “Satsuma” sometimes occur after 1920. Sometimes, these terms are ambiguous. “Hand painted” may mean that only a part was hand painted, but the remainder was printed. “Satsuma” may indicate some broad relationship with Satsuma, rather than a faithful execution. The most obvious example is moriage style painting of deities and rakan on porcelain.

Finally, “Satsuma” in English may indicate nothing more than a recent Chinese production. In particular, the words “HANDPAINTED ROYAL SATSUMA” indicate recent Chinese production, the style, enamels, paste and crackled glaze of which are only vaguely reminiscent of true Satsuma. Beware!  But, please note, this is a different mark than “Royal Satsuma Nippon”, which is an authentic trademark used on porcelain produced during the Nippon era.

• Printed Marks

A signature on good quality ware is nearly always hand drawn and not printed or stamped. However, there are exceptions. Kinkōzan for instance used at least two different stamps with English text “Kinkōzan” in the late Taisho period. But as a rule, stamped signatures are only found on pieces of mediocre or poor quality, made in Taisho period or later.

Porcelain Satsuma?

Although true Satsuma pottery is always earthenware and not porcelain, some porcelain ware was decorated in “Satsuma style”. While many of these are poor quality, others are excellent.

Kinkōzan and others occasionally produced high quality porcelain objects, particularly during Taisho and early Showa. Given that porcelain is fired under different conditions, it is quite likely that the blanks were “bought in” and only decorated in-house.

Porcelain is very hard, smooth and white and will never crackle in the same way as the glaze on Satsuma earthenware. Some people like and collect these Satsuma porcelains, but others find that they lack the softness and warmth of the earthenware and crackle glaze, although they may have other artistic qualities, including fine painting.