KITAOJI ROSANJIN (1883-1959)

Rosanjin began his art career as a calligrapher. From 1915 to 1917 he studied porcelain production at the Kutani kiln in Kanazawa. He then moved to Kita Kamakura and built his own kiln. He began to design and produce ceramics through his passion for fine Japanese food and his conviction that the ceramics of his day, were inadequate for serving it. He imitated many of the earlier Japanese wares creating his own individual contemporary versions. Most of his works before World War II consisted of porcelain inspired by Imari blue and white as well as Kutani wares. After the war he concentrated on stoneware in the manner of various old Japanese kilns such as Bizen (as in the above example), and Mino.