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Japanese region in Buzen Province (now part of Fukuoka Prefect.), northern Kyushu, where stonewares were manufactured at various sites from c. 1600 (see also Japan, §IX, 3, (i), (d)).

The first potter to make Agano ware was the Korean master Chon’gye (Jap. Sonkai; 1576–1654). Deported to Kyushu during one of the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597, he entered the service of Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563–1645), the newly appointed governor of Buzen. On the completion of Tadaoki’s fortress at Kokura (now Kitakyushu), Chon’gye built the Saienba kiln, probably within the castle precincts. A site thought to be Saienba was found beneath Myōkōji, the temple that replaced the castle in 1679, and excavations took place between 1979 and 1983. Sherds of both tea ceremony and everyday wares have been found there; they have transparent glazes made with a wood-ash flux, opaque glazes made with a straw-ash flux or brown-black glazes pigmented with iron oxide. Inscriptions on surviving pieces and entries in contemporary diaries indicate that these early products were also called Buzen or Kokura ware. After a few years the Saienba kiln closed, and ...

(b Maidstone, Kent, April 10, 1767; d Maidstone, July 23, 1816).

English painter, engraver, draughtsman and museum official. The son of a coachbuilder, he was apprenticed to Julius Caesar Ibbetson before enrolling in 1784 at the Royal Academy Schools, London. In 1792 he accepted the post (previously declined by Ibbetson) of draughtsman to George, 1st Earl Macartney, on his embassy to China. As the embassy returned by inland waterway from Beijing to Canton, Alexander made detailed sketches of the Chinese hinterland—something achieved by no British artist previously and by very few subsequently. These sketches formed the basis for finished watercolours (e.g. Ping-tze Muen, the Western Gate of Peking, 1799; London, BM) and for numerous engravings by both himself and others. For over fifty years his images of China were widely borrowed by book illustrators and by interior decorators in search of exotic themes.

Alexander was also a keen student of British medieval antiquities, undertaking several tours in order to make drawings of churches and monuments; many of these were reproduced in the antiquarian publications of ...

Region in Japan, now part of Saga Prefecture, and the name of a type of porcelain first produced there during the early Edo period (1600–1868). The ware was originally known as Imari yaki (‘Imari ware’) because it was shipped from the port of Imari (Saga Prefect.). During the Meiji period (1868–1912) porcelain was produced throughout the country. The need to distinguish it from other porcelain wares led to the use of the name Arita (Arita yaki). As a result, the names Imari and Arita wares were used interchangeably. In the West, Arita porcelain was known by several names, including Imari, Amari, Old Japan and Kakiemon (see Japan, §IX, 3, (iii)).

Porcelain production is said to have begun in Japan in 1616, when the Korean ceramicist Ri Sanpei [Jap. Kanagae Sanbei] (1579–1655), who had been brought to Japan after Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea (...

Bazaar, which is rooted in Middle Persian wāzār and Armenian vačaṟ, has acquired three different meanings: the market as a whole, a market day, and the marketplace. The bazaar as a place is an assemblage of workshops and stores where various goods and services are offered.

Primitive forms of shops and trade centres existed in early civilizations in the Near East, such as Sialk, Tepe in Kashan, Çatal Hüyük, Jerico, and Susa. After the 4th millennium BC, the population grew and villages gradually joined together to shape new cities, resulting in trade even with the remote areas as well as the acceleration of the population in towns. The advancement of trade and accumulation of wealth necessitated the creation of trade centres. Trade, and consequently marketplaces, worked as the main driving force in connecting separate civilizations, while fostering a division of labour, the diffusion of technological innovations, methods of intercultural communication, political and economic management, and techniques of farming and industrial production....

[I Ping-shou; zi Zisi; hao Moqing]

(b Ninghua, Fujian Province, 1754; d Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, 1815).

Chinese calligrapher, minor painter, and seal-carver. He passed the civil service examination to become a jinshi in 1789. He then had a series of official posts, serving on the Board of Justice, as an examiner, and as a prefectural magistrate first at Huizhou in Guangdong Province and then at Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province. Yi is generally recognized as a pioneering figure in the stele studies (beixue) movement in calligraphy (see China, §IV 2., (vii)). He occasionally painted landscapes, few of which are extant. His writings on calligraphy can be found in his Collected Poems of the Lingering Spring Thatched Hall (Liuchun caotang shichao).

Yi shared contemporary antiquarian interest and owned a large collection of rubbings from ancient inscriptions. In calligraphy Yi is best known for his clerical script (lishu), a modern reinterpretation of the style of Han dynasty stone steles. He also developed distinctive style in running script (...

Japanese centre of ceramics production. High-fired ceramic wares were manufactured from the end of the 12th century in and around the village of Inbe, Bizen Province (now Okayama Prefect.). This region had been a centre for manufacturing Sue-style stonewares and Haji-style earthenwares from the 6th century ad (see Japan, §IX, 2, (ii), (a)). At the end of the Heian period (794–1185) the potters moved from the old Sue-ware sites around Osafune village to Inbe, just to the north. In response to increased agricultural development, the new kilns manufactured kitchen mortars (suribachi), narrow-necked jars (tsubo) and wide-necked jars (kame). During the 13th century the wares show less of the grey-black surfaces typical of the old Sue tradition and more of the purple-reddish colour characteristic of Bizen. In the 14th century Bizen-ware production sites shifted from the higher slopes to the foot of the mountains. Kilns expanded in capacity, ranging up to 40 m in length. Vast quantities of Bizen wares, particularly kitchen mortars, were exported via the Inland Sea to Kyushu, Shikoku and numerous points in western Honshu, establishing Bizen as the pre-eminent ceramics centre in western Japan. By the 15th century the Bizen repertory had expanded to include agricultural wares in graded sizes; wares then featured combed decoration and such functional additions as lugs and pouring spouts. Plastic–forming was assisted by the introduction of a fusible clay found 2–4 m under paddy-fields. This clay, which fires to an almost metallic hardness, is still in use today....

[Kameda Chōkō; Kameda Hōsai]

(b Edo [now Tokyo], 1752; d Edo, 1826).

Japanese painter, poet, calligrapher and book illustrator. The son of an Edo merchant, he studied calligraphy from a very early age under the noted Chinese-style calligrapher Mitsui Shinna (1700–82). He also received a Confucian education, unusual at that time for a merchant’s son. From about 1765 to 1774 Bōsai trained under Inoue Kinga (1732–84), an influential Confucian scholar of eclectic doctrines as well as a painter and calligrapher, at the Seijūkan, a private academy near Yokohama. Bōsai opened a Confucian academy in Edo in 1774. In 1790, however, the Tokugawa shogunate issued an edict aimed at curtailing the popularity of such schools as Bōsai’s, where students were encouraged to develop their own moral philosophy rather than accept the government-sponsored Confucianism of the Chinese Song-period (ad 960–1279) philosopher Zhu Xi. Bōsai gradually lost his pupils and in 1797 closed his school.

Bōsai’s artistic activity increased from ...

[Tani Masayasu; Shazanrō]

(b Edo [now Tokyo], Oct 15, 1763; d Edo, Jan 6, 1841).

Japanese painter and book designer (see fig.). He was the son of the poet Tani Rokkoku (1729–1809). As his father and grandfather were retainers of the Tayasu family, descended from the eighth Tokugawa shogun, Bunchō inherited samurai status and received a small stipend to meet the responsibilities this entailed. In his youth he began studying the painting techniques of the Kanō school under Katō Bunrei (1706–82). After Bunrei’s death Bunchō worked with masters of other schools, such as the literati painter Kitayama Kangan (1767–1801), and developed a wide stylistic range that included many Chinese, Japanese, and even European idioms. He is best known for his crisp landscapes in the literati style (Nanga or Bunjinga; see Japan, §VI, 4, (vi), (d)), especially those produced in the Kansei era (1789–1801) inspired by such Chinese masters of the Ming period (...

(b Seoul, 1750; d Seoul, 1815).

Korean calligrapher and painter of the late Chosŏn period (1392–1910). Although he was a descendant of a distinguished family, because he was born out of wedlock his official post remained that of a civil servant. Along with fellow enthusiasts of pukhak (‘Northern [i.e. Chinese] learning’) such as Pak Chi-wŏn and Hong Tae-yong (1731–83), Pak urged that Korea should learn from the civilization of the Chinese Qing period (1644–1911). As a member of an official delegation he visited Beijing in 1790. His contact with the arts and letters, the ideology and scholarship and the literary style of painting of the Qing court enabled him to play a pioneering role in the emergence of the school of Kim Chŏng-hŭi, with its emphasis on innovation and feeling. Through his role as teacher to Kim Chŏng-hŭi, Pak’s influence stretched to later generations.

From childhood he showed a talent for poetry, calligraphy and painting. Whenever he saw a blank space, he is said to have filled it with his art. In calligraphy he excelled in cursive and semi-cursive scripts, and he introduced the format of paired phrases. In his painting he mainly used a neat and fresh literati style. Western painting influences are reflected in his ...

[cha Kyŏngdo ; ho Haksan, Ch’anha ]

(b P’ap’yŏng, Kyŏnggi Province, 1764; d after 1840).

Korean painter and scholar . He began his official career brilliantly in 1792 by coming first in the saengwŏn (classics licentiate) examination. Unfortunately his advancement was interrupted twice, first when he was banished to Ch’angwon, South Kyŏngsang Province, in 1806 for political factionalism, the second time when he was released from his post of magistrate because of charges brought against him in 1830 by the amhaeng ŏsa (‘secret inspectors’).

Yun Che-hong’s contemporary Sin Wi, who wrote extensively about painters and their works, only mentions briefly that Yun preferred to paint landscapes. This suggests that, as a result of his turbulent official career, Yun might not have mingled with men of letters and arts of his time. Yun Che-hong’s extant works prove that he was an innovative and unconventional painter. An album of eight leaves containing Yun’s landscape paintings (Seoul, Ho-am A. Mus.) reveals that he experimented with such unusual techniques as using the tip of his finger or a stick. On one of the album leaves—that depicting ...

[Tanomura Kōzō; Chikuden; Chikuden Rōho; Chikuden Sonmin; Kujō Senshi]

(b Takeda, Bungo Prov. [now Ōita Prefect.], Kyushu, 1777; d Osaka, 1835).

Japanese poet, painter and theorist. He was born into a family of physicians in service to the Oka clan of Bungo Province. He first studied medicine, but later became an instructor in Confucian studies at the clan school, the Yūgakukan. In 1801–2 Chikuden studied the verse of China’s Song period (960–1279) in Edo (now Tokyo). During this time he was also painting landscapes in the style of Dong Qichang, a painter of the Ming period (1368–1644). From 1805 to 1807 he continued his literary training in Kyoto, where he befriended Uragami Gyokudō and Okada Beisanjin, who were exponents of literati painting (Bunjinga or Nanga; see Japan §VI 4., (vi), (d)), and from this time he was determined to establish himself as a literati poet and painter.

Chikuden continued painting after his arrival in Kyoto, and his style became more experimental as a result of his contact both with Japanese painters who copied Chinese painting and woodblock-printed books and with original works by Chinese artists. He executed portraits of beautiful women (...

(b Lyon, Feb 12, 1756; d Lyon, June 20, 1813).

French sculptor. He was the son of a silk merchant and trained under the painter Donat Nonotte at the Ecole Royale de Dessin in Lyon. He then worked with the local sculptor Barthélemy Blaise (1738–1819). In 1772 he assisted Blaise with the restoration of the sculptures on the façade of the Hôtel de Ville. By 1780 he was working independently and received a commission from the canons of St Paul for chalk statues of St Paul, St Sacerdos and the Four Evangelists (all destr. 1793–4). He subsequently made stone statues of St Bruno and St John the Baptist (partially destr.) for the Charterhouse at Selignac, near Bourg-en-Bresse. In 1784, thanks to the patronage of the Lyonnais official Jean-Marie Delafont de Juis, Chinard was able to go to Rome, where he remained until 1787. There he studied the art of antiquity but seems not to have had any contact with Antonio Canova, the most influential Neo-classical sculptor in the city. In ...

(b London, Jan 7, 1774; d Macao, May 30, 1852).

English painter. Although long rumoured to be Irish, Chinnery was brought up in London, where he showed a precocious talent as a portrait painter in the traditions of Romney and Cosway. His grandfather, the calligrapher William Chinnery sr, was the author of Writing and Drawing Made Easy, Amusing and Instructive (London, 1750); his father, William jr, was also a writing master, and exhibited portraits at the Free Society of Artists. George entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1792, and by 1795 had exhibited 20 portraits at the Academy.

In 1796 Chinnery moved to Dublin. There he married his landlord’s daughter, Marianne Vigne, who gave birth to his two legitimate children. He was active in the Royal Dublin Society and in 1798 was Secretary and Treasurer of its Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture. He experimented in several styles and media, to considerable critical acclaim; in July 1801 he received a silver palette ‘in Testimony of his Exertions in promoting the Fine Arts in Ireland’ … from ‘the Artists of Dublin’....

Term derived from chinois (Fr.: ‘Chinese’) denoting a type of European art dominated by Chinese or pseudo-Chinese ornamental motifs. The term is most often applied to decorative arts produced from the second half of the 17th century to the early 19th, when trading contacts between Europe and East Asia were at their height.

Although overland and sea routes had brought a steady supply of Asian spices, silk, furs, ivory and other commodities to the ancient world, it was Marco Polo who first fired the imagination of the West with his description of his travels and experiences at Kublai Khan’s court that he published after his return to Venice in 1295. Other travellers also recorded their tales, the most famous being the pseudonymous ‘Sir John Mandeville’ whose Travels was published in Lyons in 1480. Its fairy-tale evocation of the Near East and East Asia was translated into every European language and fuelled a longing for ‘Cathay’. This romantic vision, taking the various forms of Chinoiserie, ...

(fl c. 1780–early 1800s).

Japanese painter and woodblock-print designer. He is thought to have studied under Toriyama Sekien (1712–88), the teacher of Kitagawa Utamaro. Chōki specialized in compositions of beautiful women (bijinga), sometimes with little or no background but more often with atmospheric backgrounds in which there is a limited sense of depth. He was influenced by Utamaro, Torii Kiyonaga (see Torii family §(8)) and Tōshūsai Sharaku, but developed his own style of tall, slender figure. He left a number of superbly printed designs. Chōki was particularly skilful at depicting half-length figures; many of his best designs are compositions of two such half-length figures. Examples include the colour woodblock-print Girl with an Umbrella and a Servant (c. mid-1790s; e.g. Tokyo, N. Mus.), with a background of falling snow and, in the foreground, a girl holding an umbrella and leaning on the back of her manservant as he bends to (presumably) clear the snow from her sandal. In ...

[Yi]

Korean dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1910. The founder of the dynasty, Yi Sŏng-gye, posthumously known as King T’aejo (reg 1392–8), established Neo-Confucianism as the official ideology, encouraging a modest and practical lifestyle. Thus the patronage of extravagant art was discouraged, and the status of the artist was reduced. Buddhism was often zealously suppressed but remained the private religion of the palace women, the common people and even some kings. T’aejo, for example, built Sŏgwang Temple in north-eastern Korea, the area of his origin; King Sejo (reg 1455–68) built the marble pagoda of the Wŏngak Temple in Seoul in 1466; and the Dowager Queen Munjŏng patronized painters (see Korea, §IV, 2, (i), (d)) and supported temple constructions during the reign of King Myŏngjong (reg 1545–67).

With the establishment of the capital at Hanyang (now Seoul), T’aejo built the Kyŏngbok and Ch’angdŏk palaces and city walls in ...

(b Camborne, Cornwall, ?1768; d London, Oct 18, 1847).

English painter. He was brought up in Rotherhithe (London), where his father was a sailmaker. He worked initially painting china, first in Aldgate (London) and later in Shropshire, and was expected to become manager of a china works. Instead he chose an artistic career and in 1792 attended the Royal Academy Schools, London. By 1795 he was working as a professional artist. In the 1790s he also attended Dr Monro’s Drawing Academy where he met John and Cornelius Varley. In 1802 and 1803 he sketched in Wales with the Varleys and in 1805 co-founded with them the Society of Painters in Water-colours, where he exhibited regularly for the rest of his life. He was president of the Society in 1816 and 1819 and again between 1821 and 1831. He exhibited a portrait at the Royal Academy in 1803, but thereafter his work consisted mainly of landscapes and figure studies in watercolours as well as numerous pencil and ink sketches. He was also fond of classical subjects, particularly with a pastoral flavour (e.g. ...

Period in Japanese history, 1600–1868 (see also Japan §I 2.). The victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 put an end to a century of civil war and brought a reunified Japan under the centralized, feudal rule of the Tokugawa family. In 1603 Ieyasu was confirmed as shogun. In the summer of 1615, the last remnants of opposition were eliminated with the siege and fall of Osaka Castle (see Osaka §I). Thereafter, Ieyasu’s military regime, with its headquarters in the castle town of Edo (now Tokyo), became the undisputed government over all Japan. The next 250 years, under the rule of 15 generations of the Tokugawa, was a time of relative political stability, marked by the growth of cities and the mercantile economy. The feudal state was rigidly divided into four groups: samurai (shi), farmers (nō...

[Yōtoku; Yingchuan]

(b Kyoto, 1753; d Kyoto, 1811).

Japanese potter. He is thought to have been the grandson of Chinese immigrants who came to Japan to escape the turbulence at the end of the Ming period (1368–1644). He was adopted into the Okuda family of wealthy pawnbrokers, who patronized the Buddhist temple Kenninji, where, according to one account, Eisen lodged for a time. The temple was famous as a centre of Chinese learning, and it was probably this contact that stimulated Eisen’s first attempts at making Chinese-style ceramics. By the 1780s he was producing copies of late Ming-period enamelled porcelain called gosu akae (gosu: a type of mineral; aka: ‘red’; akae ‘red design’, a type of ware introduced to Japan in the 17th century). Ceramicists in Kyoto had experimented with porcelain earlier in the 18th century, but Eisen was the first to make sustained use of the material, although it is unclear how he acquired the basic clay for porcelain. He is now known to have studied ceramic techniques at ...

[Chōbunsai]

(b [now Tokyo], 1756; d 1829).

Japanese painter and woodblock-print designer. He was of samurai rank but abandoned his position to devote himself to painting and print design. Having first studied painting under Kanō Eisen’in Michinobu (1730–90), he began producing ukiyoe (‘pictures of the floating world’; see Japan, §VI, 4, (iv), (b)). Early works include a series of colour prints of literary classics such as the 11th-century Tale of Genji. Eishi then began to produce courtesan images influenced by Torii Kiyonaga (seeTorii family, §8) and then pictures of solitary seated women. In the print Kasen of the Ōgiya, from Six Select Beauties of the Gay Quarters (Seirō bijin rokkasen), Kasen is shown holding her brush over an inkstone, about to paint a fan, which she holds in her other hand. Full-bodied figures of women, depicted in activities such as letter-writing or reading, and with a few suggestions of their belongings, became part of his treatment of the theme. Later Eishi depicted standing female figures against subdued, single-colour backgrounds. Finally, Eishi elongated his women until their heads were only one-twelfth the height of the rest of the figure. The woodblock-print triptych of ...