Kakiemon: Milk-White Porcelain and the Art of Empty Space
Kakiemon is a style defined by the parts that are left unpainted.
A wide white ground, with birds and flowers set into one corner. Measured as a share of the surface, the painting covers less than a third. And yet it stays in the memory longer than any other kind of enamel work. The empty space does not set off the painting. The empty space is the composition. That is the heart of Kakiemon.
The painting technique itself is covered in overglaze enamel, and the story of the region in Arita ware.
Nigoshide, a particular kind of white
What makes Kakiemon Kakiemon is not the painting. It is the white underneath it.
This white is called nigoshide. Unlike the faintly blue-tinged white of ordinary porcelain, it is a soft, warm milk-white. It does not compete on translucency. It holds a little of the light and gives it back.
Because that ground is there, the red laid over it does not sink, and the green comes up beautifully. What decides the colour of the painting is not the enamel but the white underneath.
Nigoshide is difficult to fire, and it is said to have died out for a period in the mid-Edo era. It was later revived, and a small number of makers continue it today.
How the colours are built
Kakiemon works with a deliberately short list of colours. Overglaze enamel is laid on top of the fired glaze and fired again at a lower temperature.
| Colour | Character | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Bright and clear, the red of a ripe persimmon | Petals, a bird's wing. The lead role |
| Green | A blue-green with light in it | Leaves, branches |
| Yellow | Clean, with no grey in it | An accent. Small in area |
| Blue (gosu) | Cobalt painted under the glaze | Outlines, rim borders |
Not adding more colours is the point. Where somenishiki, from the same town, layers enamel and gold over blue to raise the density, Kakiemon works by subtraction.
The pigment behind the blue is covered in gosu, and the red enamel itself in akae.
What gets painted
The subjects narrow to a natural handful.
- Birds and flowers A bird on a branch with blossom beside it. The most common pairing in Kakiemon
- Peony on rock A mass of rock with a flower opening above it. The way the weight sits high is characteristic
- Tiger in bamboo A subject that came in from Chinese painting. Few lines, carried by movement
- Seasonal grasses and flowers Plum, chrysanthemum, cherry. One season chosen and placed
All of them are pushed to the edge of the surface. The centre is left open and the piece is finished that way. It is a composition that would be hard to justify in European painting, and it is one reason Europe was so struck by it later.
The style that moved Europe
Kakiemon reached Europe in the second half of the 17th century, carried by the Dutch East India Company.
Royal and noble households competed to collect it, and porcelain rooms were built with entire walls given over to it. In time, local kilns began to copy Kakiemon. Meissen in Germany, Chelsea and Worcester in England. In the early years of European porcelain, Kakiemon imitations form a clearly identifiable group.
It is one of the few cases where Japanese ware became the starting point for another country's style. The wider arc of this period is covered in the history of Japanese ceramics.
How to tell it apart
Arita produced many kinds of enamel painting, and at first they are hard to separate. Reading them in this order makes it quick.
| What to look at | Kakiemon | Somenishiki and kinrande |
|---|---|---|
| Empty space | Left wide open | Almost none left |
| The white | Soft milk-white (nigoshide) | Porcelain white with a blue cast |
| Gold | Rarely used | Used freely |
| Where the painting sits | Pushed to the edge | Spread across the whole surface |
The fastest test is to look at the empty space. If the white is broad and that white is faintly warm, it is Kakiemon. If gold has come in and the surface is filled, you are looking at kinrande or somenishiki.
Living with it
A piece with a lot of empty space is particular about what goes on it.
The less you serve, the better it looks. A few slices of sashimi, a single wagashi, a small portion of something simmered. The white of the plate carries straight on as empty space around the food, and the food settles in as though it were part of the painting.
Fill the surface and both the painting and the empty space disappear. Kakiemon was designed on the assumption that you would not pile it high.
It is porcelain, so it needs no medome. The enamel does sit on top of the glaze, though, so keep metal scourers and abrasive cleaners away from it. Everyday handling is covered in caring for Japanese ceramics.
Related reading
Enamel painting from Arita
- Uwa-etsuke: How Overglaze Enamel Painting Works
- Akae: The Red Overglaze Enamel of Kutani and Arita
- What Is Somenishiki | Enamel Color Over Blue Underglaze, from Arita
- Kinrande: Gold Fired Over Red Overglaze Enamel
White and blue
- Sometsuke: Blue and White Porcelain, Explained
- Gosu: The Cobalt Blue Behind Japanese Sometsuke
- Japanese Porcelain: Made from Stone, Not Clay
Region and history
- Arita Ware: Japan's First Porcelain, 400 Years On
- A Short History of Japanese Ceramics, Jomon to Now
- Ko-Kutani: The Lost 17th-Century Kutani Porcelain
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