Satsuma ware

A Satsuma ware bowl from the Meiji or Taishō period (19th-early 20th century)

A modern Satsuma ware pictorial button depicting a rooster. (courtesy of Peach State Button Club)

Satsuma ware (薩摩焼 satsuma-yaki), sometimes referred to as "Satsuma porcelain", is a type of Japanese earthenware pottery. It originated in the late 16th century, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and is still produced today. Although the term can be used to describe a variety of types of pottery, the best known type of Satsuma ware has a soft, ivory-colored, crackled glaze with elaborate polychrome and gold decorations.^{[citation needed]}

Satsuma ware originated when the Shimazu prince of the Satsuma domain in southern Kyūshū abducted skilled Korean potters after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Japanese Invasions of Korea to establish a local pottery industry. After display at the international exhibition in Paris in 1867, it proved popular as an export to Europe.

External links

• Satsuma Ware, from Traditional Crafts of Japan