16. Ogata Kenzan

KENZAN Ogata Kenzan (1663- 1743)

乾山 -  尾形 乾山

 

Ogata Kenzan was born in  Kyoto in 1663 into a rich merchant family. His real name was Shinseri, he was the third son of the Ogata Family, which ran a high-class clothing shop in Kariganeya, Kyoto. Another son of this family was the famous  painter Korin, who is known for his byōbu folding screens, such as Irises and Red and White Plum Blossoms, but he also painted ceramics for his brother Kenzan.  

As a young man Kenzan builded a house at the foot of Omuronarabigaoka and led a secluded life, learning Japanese and Chinese poetry, practicing writing and familiarizing himself with Zen Buddhism. From there, he often visited the kiln at Omuro, and started in 1690 to study pottery under  guidance of Onomura Ninsei. In 1699, at the age of 37, he started his own kiln in Narutaki, Rakusei, in the northwest of Kyoto en changed his name in “Kenzan”  meaning  northwest mountain.

 

A crackled cream glazed plate with chrysanthemum and poem in brown; the outer rim with conventional floral diaper in blue

In 1712, when a high ranked nobleman began to patronize his kiln, he moved to the east area of Kyoto,  he moved to Nijō, in central Kyoto, where he established another kiln. After difficulties he moved to Edo (Tokyo) in 1731 where he built another kiln and died in 1743. Kenzan produced quantities of pottery, included raku ware (pottery covered with a lead glaze and fired at a comparatively lowtemperature),  earthenware and porcelain but is assocciated the most with Kyo-yaki. He produced a unique and groundbreaking style of freely brushed grasses, blossoms, and birds as decorative motifs for potteryand his pieces were noted for their perfect relation between design and shape.He often collaborated on the decoration of pottery with his older brother, the painter Ogata Korin what resulted in wonderful decorative plates, on which Korin’s painting and Kenzan’s poems are seen together.

Ogata Kenzan and his teacher Onomura Ninsei are regarded as the founders of modern Kyo-yaki.

 

Some examples and the seal of Ogata Kenzan.