What Is Somenishiki | Enamel Color Over Blue Underglaze, from Arita
Somenishiki is a technique in which the skeleton of a design is drawn in cobalt blue sometsuke on porcelain, then finished with red, green and other overglaze enamels laid on top.
The name explains the method. Some is sometsuke, the blue drawn under the glaze; nishiki is nishikide, the many-colored enamel work above it. The technique developed in Arita and Imari, and it still sits at the center of the most decorative porcelain in Japan.
Blue alone is too quiet; color alone will not hold together. Somenishiki is the arrangement that makes both work on a single piece.
Blue first, color second
The order is fixed. Cobalt gosu is painted onto the bisque-fired body, a clear glaze goes over it, and the piece is fired to around 1,300C. That much is sometsuke.
Then red, green, yellow and purple enamels are laid onto the finished glaze surface, and the piece goes back into a low-temperature enamel kiln at 700-800C. That second firing is what makes it somenishiki.
The order cannot be reversed. Overglaze colors burn away at 1,300C, and cobalt is the only pigment that survives that heat. Blue first, color second: the sequence is a technical necessity, not a stylistic choice.
Blue is the outline, color is the field
When you look at a somenishiki piece, look for what the blue is doing.
Usually the blue carries the outlines and the ground pattern: the edges of a flower or bird, the karakusa scrollwork or net motif running around the rim. Red and green then fill in as fields of color. Blue is the skeleton, color is the flesh.
Run a finger across it and the difference is obvious. The blue sits under the glaze and reads flat; the enamel sits on the glaze and has a faint thickness you can feel.
Sometsuke, somenishiki and kinrande
| Name | Colors used | Firings |
|---|---|---|
| Sometsuke | Blue only, painted under the glaze | 2 (bisque + glaze firing) |
| Somenishiki | Blue skeleton plus color above the glaze | 3 (+ enamel kiln) |
| Kinrande | A red ground filled in, then gold on top | 3 (gold fired lower still) |
Every added color means another trip through the kiln, and another chance to lose the piece. That difference in labor and yield is why a somenishiki piece costs more than a sometsuke one of the same shape.
Living with somenishiki
The blue is sealed under the glaze and will not wear. What needs care is the color sitting on top of it.
- No microwave if there is gold Gold is metal, and it sparks
- Avoid the dishwasher Heat, pressure and strong alkaline detergent fade overglaze enamel
- No abrasives Wash by hand with a soft sponge and mild detergent
Keep those three and the color holds for decades. Full care notes are in caring for Japanese tableware.
Related reading
Related terms
- What is sometsuke | How blue and white porcelain is made
- What is uwa-etsuke | Painting on the glaze, where color runs free
- What is gosu | The pigment that turns blue inside the kiln
- What is akae | Red painted on the glaze, in Kutani and Arita
- What is kinrande | Gold over red enamel, the most opulent painting
- Japanese pottery glossary | Techniques, regions and tools
Go deeper
- What is Arita ware | 400 years since Japanese porcelain began
- What is Kutani ware | The boldest painting in Japan
- What the motifs mean | Crane, pine, wave and karakusa
- Types of glaze | Color from ash, iron, feldspar and copper
Pieces available at Nokaze
See blue and color layered together
Flat blue beneath the glaze, color raised faintly above it. No two somenishiki pieces carry the same line. At Nokaze every painted piece comes with the name of the person who painted it.
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New to Japanese pottery? Start here — its history, how pottery differs from porcelain, the clays and glazes behind each style, and how to care for a piece. → Japanese Pottery: The Complete Guide