Shita-etsuke: Underglaze Painting and Why It Never Fades
Shita-etsuke is the technique of painting directly on a body that has been through bisque firing, covering it with a clear glaze and firing at high temperature.
Because the drawing is sealed beneath the glass layer of the glaze, it never lifts through age or abrasion. Resistant to detergent and to the dishwasher, it is the painting best suited to pottery in daily use.
The leading example is sometsuke in gosu — the blue and white porcelain of Arita and Hasami. The iron-painted designs on Shino and Oribe belong to the same family of underglaze work.
When it happens
Underglaze painting sits seventh in the full sequence of making a piece.
- Forming and trimming The form is made on the potter's wheel, and the foot ring (kodai) is trimmed.
- Bisque firing A low firing at around 800°C makes a porous body that absorbs water.
- Underglaze painting The brush works on that porous surface. Because the body absorbs moisture, the pigment fixes the moment the brush touches.
- Glazing and main firing A clear glaze goes on, and the piece fires at 1,200–1,300°C.
A bisque body drinks pigment like washi paper. A line once laid cannot be erased and cannot be redrawn. That one-chance tension gives underglaze lines their particular decisiveness.
Underglaze and overglaze compared
| Aspect | Underglaze | Overglaze |
|---|---|---|
| Surface painted | Bisque body; slightly rough | Fired glaze; smooth |
| Firing temperature | 1,200–1,300°C | 700–800°C |
| Colors available | Blue, iron brown, black — those that survive heat | Red, yellow, green, purple, gold, silver: free |
| Appearance | Sunk under the glaze; moist, like watercolour | Sitting on the glaze; slightly raised |
| Durability | Very high; does not lift | Weak to friction and strong detergent |
The two are not opposed and can be layered on one piece. A structure drawn in sometsuke with akae over it — kinrande — is the example.
Check it with your hand
Telling underglaze from overglaze takes only a fingertip. Run a finger over the drawing.
If you feel no step at all and the surface is as smooth as the glaze around it, it is underglaze. If the thickness of the enamel catches slightly, it is overglaze. It is a check that needs no tools and works at any antique market.
Related terms and guides
Related terms
- Uwa-etsuke: How Overglaze Enamel Painting Works
- Sometsuke: Blue and White Porcelain, Explained
- Gosu: The Cobalt Blue Behind Japanese Sometsuke
- Suyaki (Bisque Firing): What Happens in the First Fire
- Shino Ware: Japan's First White Glaze, and Its Red Blush
- Japanese Pottery Glossary | Terms, Techniques & Kilns
Read further
- Japanese Pottery Patterns: What the Motifs Actually Mean
- How Japanese Pottery Is Shaped: Five Forming Methods
- Arita Ware: Japan's First Porcelain, 400 Years On
- Hasami Ware: Everyday Japanese Porcelain from Nagasaki
Look at the line beneath the glaze
A line protected by glaze, with no step to a fingertip. Nokaze introduces underglaze-painted pottery together with 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