There are five main types of under-glaze decoration that were used in the Arita kilns.
Blue and white, sometsuke in Japanese, Iron pigment, tetsue in Japanese, a copper based glaze, shinshayu in
Japanese, and a technique wherein the image is rendered by leaving it impressed into the body of the piece and using
the clear over-glaze as a contrast agent, hakue in Japanese
Blue and white ware is probably second only to colored over-glaze decoration in being recognized as coming from the
Arita area. Cobalt imported from China was initially used. As the civil wars in China made it increasingly difficult to get
and the quality unreliable the Japanese turned to their own supplies of cobalt . There are several methods that were
used to decorate the pieces in blue and white. The outline of the form was drawn in cobalt and then filled in with brush
strokes. Another method was for the outline to be filled in with blowing the cobalt from a type of atomizer . Another type
of decoration seen is to use a resist to leave a negative space image that would be white with the surrounding area blue
. This technique started in the 1650s and was used right through the Edo period into the late 19th century.
The last two of the most common ways to decorate are stencils and stamps. The stencils were made out of a type of
paper and were used a couple of times before being discarded. It is easy to tell if a piece is a stencil design. Any long
lines will be broken up into segments.
The stamps were made from a type of processed plant. They also were used for a limited period before being
discarded. Both the stencils and stamps were seen in the middle of the Edo period.
The use of iron as an under-glaze pigment has a long history. The amount and quality of the iron in the pigment
combined with the firing process will give the piece a color that ranges from brown to black. The higher the iron content
the more tendency to come out of the kiln black.
The use of iron as an under-glaze pigment was influenced by Korea. Towards the end of the 16th century in the Karatsu
and Mino areas kilns started using it as a pigment. There were a lot of wares produced in the time period of 1590-1610.
In the Hizen area basically from the 1630-1649 there was a large increase in production of ware that used iron as an
under-glaze pigment. The ware produced at that time had a very thin application of clear over-glaze.
Copper in the glaze or in the under-glaze pigment also played a big part in ware from Hizen. The color ranges from
green to red depending on the firing method. Very similar to celadon. This type is seen from the beginning of ceramics
being fired in the area, and certainly was on the rise in the 1640s. The usage ranges from the whole piece being
covered in the glaze or being used just as a decorative element. The volatility in the kiln of copper made this glaze a
difficult one to produce. It had largely faded out by the second half of the 17th. century.
The last type of under-glaze type decoration is ware decorated with white. This may mean the whole piece is decorated
white or there may be just a portion done in white. White decoration done under the main clear glaze is called shiroe in
Japanese.
There are a number of processes to achieve this. Paper stencils were used as was a process where a thick slip was
trailed over the base form to give a raised design .
There is a major difference in application of stencil design elements on white ware and celadons. In white ware the
design is always applied below the glaze. In celadons it is usually applied over the glazes, that is to say on top of the
glaze.
Stencil work is seen extensively in work from Hizen from the Edo period, with the majority produced from the middle of
the 17th century through to the middle of the 18th century.