Antique Imari Ware Imari (伊萬里)ware from the Genroku era (1688-1704), characterized by an indigo base overlaid with gold, red, green or yellow designs, is sometimes known as kinrande(金襴手) for its similarity to golden brocade. Japanese porcelain, emblematic of the merchant class who rose to prominence in this age of prosperity, charmed European consumers and vast quantities of this “china” where shipped to Europe through outlets like Dutch East India Company.
The History of Antique Imari Ware
The initial output is very small in the earliest, and the drawing technique is still learning to imitate the Chinese Jingdezhen porcelain pattern, but there are looking great, the scattered white flowers, and the use of repaired gold paint traces. The continuation pattern has a wave pattern on the inside.
In the middle of the 17th century, Antique Imari Ware style was characterized by strong color expression, especially dark green, and the whiteness was expressed. The back of the dish was dyed and treated with flowers and grasses. The initial side of the plate and the back were all produced by the craftsman. Draw flowers and flowers, the lines are not right, but are drawn along the body organically. The closer to the modern, the more the floral pattern drawing(唐草繪製) is drawn, the floral pattern drawing is also an important basis for judging the age.
At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the gorgeous drawing was a symbol of Genroku era culture. The kinrande was especially refined and outlined in Phnom Penh. In the middle of the plate, the squid symbolizing prosperity, echoing and weaving patterns and wild rock culture echoes. In the dish, floral pattern draws a copy of the Chinese kinrande, and draws a window to draw a chrysanthemum kinrande.
At the end of 1630, Kyoto began to document the records of Iri (Imari). So that Imari was burnt all over Japan. In 1640, the technical firing of Imari was matured, and the text was drawn on plain white porcelain. In the same way, the color is stable and bright, and later developed the technique of "color painting". In the beginning, a pattern called "Wu Shou" (吳須)was used to paint a blue color, and under the transparent glaze, a technique called "dyeing"(染付) was described, that is, Chinese blue and white.
The "color painting" is to increase the red, yellow, green and other colorful colors to be painted and then burned. It is developed in Chinese style and is also known as "SHONZUI"（色繪祥瑞）. The above picture shows the outline of the red line.
In the second half of the 17th century, Imari was the main exporter of various styles, and its firing technology has also grown dramatically. In order to meet the needs of overseas exports, the quality of porcelain must be excellent, so the development of the "Kakiemon style"（柿右衛門樣式） was completed. Its chic composition and colorful colors made the European aristocracy deeply fascinated and further influenced the Western porcelain. In the period of the Yuan Lu, the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the kinrande of the dyeing, coloring, and gold glaze was born at the peak of the color painting of Imari. It was the most representative of the 18th century in Japan. The style of persimmon is more than red and gold, and new colors are green and yellow green.
The Imari that similar to the color of the washed rice water, add the dyed glaze, the decorative pattern is gorgeous, mainly for the noble family such as princes as a customized order, the craftsman draws one by one, very meticulous.
The value of "Imari" is not only about its quality, but the value of the higher level lies in the rich colors and patterns. Depending on the style, the porcelain produced in Imari is mainly divided into three categories: white porcelain texture, the upper red glaze is called “Kakiemon” (柿右衛門), and one is delicately depicted call " Nabeshima "（鍋島）, but the most classic is the ancient name, "Antique Imari"(古伊萬里) with rich colors and luxurious style.
Imari's porcelain craftsmanship is nothing but an important historical asset for Japan. In 1977, Japan also designated "Imari Ware" as a national traditional handicraft, not only for living ceramics, but also for a long time. Imari, which is gradually increasing in value, is a definitely worth collecting antique.
古董伊萬里瓷器
「古伊萬里」（Antique Imari Ware）是中古的名詞，之所以稱為「古」是它是江戶時代日本國內最早製作的瓷器。「伊萬里」是日本瓷器發展最早的一座城。來自日本元祿時代（1688-1704）的「古伊萬里」，其特徵是靛藍基部覆蓋有金色，紅色，綠色或黃色設計，有時被稱為”金襴手”，因為它與金色錦緞相似，繪畫功力細緻，金襴手描繪金邊更是當時諸侯貴族富商階級的人特別訂製才有如此繪圖，手製形狀大小各略有不同。日本瓷器，象徵著在這個繁榮時代崛起的商人階層，吸引了歐洲消費者和大量從荷蘭東印度公司（Dutch East India Company）運往歐洲。
古伊萬里的發展特徵
初期產量極少，繪製技術尚在學習仿製中國景德鎮瓷器文樣，但亦有樸拙之美，餘白散落的花，還有使用修補過金漆痕跡，盤鍔口緣以吳須繪製唐草，不對稱延續圖樣，內側還有波頭紋。
17世紀中期，古伊萬里樣式，特徵是濃厚的色彩表現，特別是墨綠色，餘白表現，器皿背裏有染付花唐草細緻地描繪，初期盤子側面、背裏皆會因產量少，匠人用心繪製花唐草，線條勾勒不對成而是沿著形體有機自然繪製，越靠近現代，唐草繪製越發省略，此唐草繪製也是判斷年代的重要依據。
17世紀末18紀初，華麗的繪製是元祿文化的象徵，「金襴手」特別再精緻圖樣勾勒金邊，透過對比顯得色彩更豐富華麗。盤中央繪製象徵繁榮的鯉魚，染織紋樣和荒磯文化呼應，盤內唐菊草繪製是仿造中國金襴手，四圍開窗繪製菊花金襴手。
1630年末期，京都開始有文獻記載今利（伊萬里燒）的記載，於是日本全國都知道伊萬里燒了，1640年伊萬里燒的技術燒製已趨成熟，在素白的瓷器上繪製文樣，顏色也穩定而鮮豔，後來發展出「色繪」的技術。初期是以一種稱為「吳須」的顏料描繪青色的文樣，在透明的釉下描繪稱為「染付」的技法，也就是中國的青花。
而「色繪」就是增加赤、黃、綠等多彩顏色加以描繪後燒製，是以中國文樣仿製開發的也就是「色繪祥瑞」上圖是用赤線作為輪廓線，祥瑞（SHONZUI）堪稱是染色方面的最上等品。全部為手工製作，用色繪的最高品質變現出來的有存在感的精美逸品。
17世紀後半，作為主要輸出的伊萬里燒已開發各種不同的樣式，其燒製技術也飛躍性的成長，為了符合海外出口需要，瓷器質量必須極好，因此開發完成了「柿右衛門樣式」，其瀟灑的構圖與多彩的顏色，使得歐洲貴族深深著迷，並且也進一步影響了西洋瓷器。元祿年間，17世紀末18世紀初，正值伊萬里燒的色繪燒製巔峰時期，染付、色繪、施以金彩釉的「金襴手」誕生，作為18世紀日本國內最上品的代表。柿右衛門樣式更多使用赤、金兩色，並增加新色綠色、黃綠色。
素地上的濁手（類似洗米水顏色，又稱乳白手）上，加上染付施釉，裝飾圖樣華麗，主要提供給王侯等貴族世家作為客製化的訂購，匠人一只一只繪製，非常細緻。
「伊萬里」的價值不單單在於他的品質，更高層面的價值在於那色彩豐富的色調及花樣。依據風格的不同，於伊萬里當地出產的瓷器，主要分為三種類：以白瓷質地為主，上朱紅色釉料的被稱之為「柿右衛門」，還有一派為以細膩的描繪為主的「鍋島」，但最經典的還是承襲古名，以豐富的色彩跟豪華的風格為主軸的「古伊萬里」。
伊萬里的瓷器工藝技術，對日本來說無非是一項重要的歷史資產，1977年，日本也將「伊萬里燒」指定為國家傳統工藝品，以不單單是生活陶瓷品，隨著時間的久遠，價值也逐漸提高的伊萬里燒，絕對是值得入手的收藏品。
參考資料： 《 古伊萬里の誕生 》；作者 ／ 伊藤和雅； 出版社 ／ 吉川弘文館
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