Vintage view: the attractions of Japanese Satsuma ware

IN MY first years of collecting I felt a yawning cultural chasm open wide when confronted with Japanese or Chinese ceramics. 

The stunning breath of invention, the centuries of skill in the making, those mysterious themes both secular and religious — it seemed bewildering compared to those more familiar western bits ’n’ bobs of smalls and furniture. Let’s start with something juicy to the eye and probably familiar — Japanese Satsuma ware. You may even have an example of a Satsuma-style pot made in recent years hanging around the house as it’s an Oriental wonder often gifted as an inexpensive and lively shelf filler.

Just about every example you’re likely to see that’s not a misplaced modern piece of Satsuma, will be made from the 1860s forward, and termed the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Examples crafted in the Satsuma provinces of Japan, were brought to Paris for the 1867 International Exhibition and were a popular hit, their hypnotic story told in the high relief of thick polychrome colours. Ideal for cabinet treasures and dull winter mantles in London or New Jersey, Satsuma ware was shipped to the west by the boat load. Many British and American service men brought pots, figures and chargers back in their luggage from their tours of duty in the Second World War and Korea.