Japan Marks - Koran-sha & Fukagawa Ezaiemon

Japan Marks - Koran-sha & Fukagawa Eizaemon

KORAN-SHA (香蘭社)
& FUKAGAWA EIZAEMON (深川栄左)

http://www.koransha.co.jp/english/

1895 Advertisement for Koransha

TRADE MARK
KORANSHA
(GHUJI FUKAGAWA)
FACTORY IN ARITA THRITY MILES FROM NAGASAKI
DEALER IN
ALL ASSORTMENTS OF JAPANESE PORCELAIN AND POTTERY.
ORDERS SMALL OR LARGE ATTENDED TO WITH PROMPTNESS
AND AT REASONABLE PRICE.
NO. 21, DESHIMA, NAGASAKI.

Majolica and fayence: Italian, Sicilian, Majorcan, Hispano-Moresque and Persian, Arthur Beckwith, 1877.

S. Fukaomi, of the porcelain-factory of Koransha, at Arita, province of Hizen—a large manufacturer—uses colors of great brilliancy, applied with taste. Signs his name "Kisa." (See mark.)

K. Tsuji, of Koransha, shows pierced work—a beautiful pink; also, pieces with handles cast in a plaster-of-Paris mould, a process learned by the Japanese at Vienna in 1870. (See mark.)




circa 1876 Kisabu Toshikian also known by other artist names. Noted by Jahn Gisela, Meiji Ceramics, names of Kisabu - Fukami (Fukaumi) Heizaemon (Kisabu).

The Melbouhne International Exhibition 1880. The official catalogue of the exhibits, Mason, Firth of M'Cutcheon, general printers, 1880.

Section III. Furniture and Accessories. Class 20. - Pottery, #29 Koransha, Yokohama, Arita - porcelain bowls, flower-vases, and plates and cups.

Few Historical Facts about Koran-sha

1689	Matasiro Fukagawa ( founder Eizaemon Fukagawa ) started to manufacture pottery in Arita.
1870	By the command of the Ministry of telegraphic communication, the 8th Eizaemon Fukagawa succeeded in manufacture of the insulator for telegraphic communication first in Japan.
1875	Established the organization of "Koransha" by the 8th Eizaemon Fukagawa and some companion.
1876	Won the certificate of merit in the Philadelphia exposition.
1878	Won the gold prize in Paris Exposition.
1879	The 8th Eizaemon Fukagawa established Koran unlimited partnership. The capital was 25,000 yen.
1888	Won the gold medal in the Barcelona exposition.
1889	The 9th Eizaemon Fukagawa assumed the position of the president.
1896	Appointed to supply pottery by the Imperial Household Ministry. Held the pottery show in the Keiunzi temple. This is the start of present Arita porcelain festival.
1900	Won the gold prize in Paris Exposition.

Japanese Pottery Being a Native Report, Augustus W. Franks and M. Shioda, T. Asami, 1880.

Figure 126 - Okawaji - Nichi Hi-zen Fuka-gawa sei, "Made in Fukagawa of Nichi Hizen." [Fig. 126] Made at Okawaji, 1875.

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/okawaji_nichi_hizen_fukagawa_sei.jpg

日肥山深川製 Nichi Hizen Fukagawa sei

General view of commerce & industry in the empire of Japan, Nōshōmushō. Shōkōkyoku, Printed by M. Ōnuki, 1893.

Business Name - Branch Shop of Koransha (Tokyo Fu) and Business Name - Branch Shop of Koransha, Name of Principal Person or Owner - Fukagawa Eizaemon, Business Place - 2 chome, Hiyoshicho, Kiobashiku, Dealing Articles - Porcelain and Earthen wares.

Japan - Its history, arts and literature, Volume VIII, Frank Brinkley, 1901.

The Fukagawa family, founded by a potter whose second name is not known (about 1650). The present representative is Fukagawa Eizaemon [sic Ezaiemon], who succeeded to the hereditary business in 1856. The factory occupied itself in the manufacture of wares for home use entirely until 1868, when, owing to the downfall of the feudal system and the withdrawal of baronial patronage, Japanese keramists were everywhere obliged to turn their attention to foreign markets. Eizaemon [sic Ezaiemon] opened a warehouse for the sale of Arita porcelain at Deshima, in Nagasaki. In 1876 he took the lead in establishing a keramic society called the Koran-sha. This name, which literally signifies " the company of the fragrant orchid," was that of a factory at which the Tsuji family had for many years been engaged in the manufacture of porcelain for official use. A spray of orchid flowers and leaves had long been a favourite mark on Arita ware (vide Marks and Seals). Tsuji Katsuzo, then head of the factory, joined the new association, and by the enterprise of these artists the manufacture of Arita porcelain began to recover much of its old excellence. They did not indeed succeed in preparing a fine white and a lustrous, uniform glaze, equal to the work of the old potters; but their management of verifiable enamels and their fertility in decorative designs left little to be desired. In 1880 Tsuji seceded from the Koran-sha, in company with several other experts, and established a separate association, to which they gave the name of Seiji Kaisha [sic Seiji-sha] (pure ware company).

Mark #115 - Hichozan [sic Nippizan] Fukagawa sei = mark of the Koransha (company).
Mark #134 - Dai Nihon Mikawachi sei Koransha ni oite Nishiyama sei = made by Nishiyama at the
Koransha (company) in Mikawachi, Great Japan; a modern mark [Meiji era].

Brinkley Hizen mark #115
Orchid logo
肥蝶山 Hichozan
深川製 Fukagawa sei

Brinkley Hizen mark #134
大日本 Dai Nihon
三河内製 Mikawachi sei
? illegible
香蘭社 Koransha
? illegible
西山製 Nishiyama sei

Hichozan (肥蝶山) was a trade name used by Arita artisans mostly for export ware during the late Edo to Meiji period and the name refers to the wares made at the Arita kilns in Sarayama, Arita-cho, Hizen.

Resource: Emiko Gilmore at www.imari.com

Koransha Classic Design of Phoenix (Hoo or Empress Bird)
on Brown Background with Abaresque Floral Pattern

Around the world through Japan, Walter Del Mar, 1903.

We spent the balance of the day exploring the town and neighbourhood of Nagasaki, and then went by train to Arita to visit the porcelain manufactory of the Koransha, a company which was established in " the seventies " [1870s] to take over the business of Fukagawa and others.

The Koransha has long since given up the old marks on its porcelain, and now uses a blue one in the shape of a small spray or flower. Many of the eighteen factories existing in this neighbourhood a hundred years ago have been closed, among them being the Seiji Kaisha [sic Seiga Kwaisha], which had stopped recently. The factories in the vicinity of Arita, formerly called Tanaka-mura, owe their origin to the same influences as those of Satsuma; namely, Koreans brought over after the war at the end of the sixteenth century.

Porcelain, oriental, continental and British: a book of handy reference for collectors, Robert Lockhart Hobson, 1906.

It should be mentioned that the manufacture of large and ungainly vases with crinkled trumpet-shaped mouths, loaded with gilded lacquer, began about 1858 with the return of Western trade. This so-called "Nagasaki ware" was entirely made for export and is abhorrent to Japanese taste; its duration was fortunately a short one.

Another nineteenth century production is the so-called Arita egg-shell. It is of two kinds, (1) decorated in red, gold and over-glaze blue, chiefly with warriors and female figures, a modern ware familiar to us in the form of delicate cups, thin as paper, and often protected with a cover of fine basket work; and (2) the blue and white egg-shell which may perhaps date back to the end of the eighteenth century. The bulk of the latter ware, however, was made not at Arita but at Mikawachi; it is of beautiful quality, well painted in under-glaze blue, and often marked Zo-shun-tei Sanpo [sic Mi-ho] sei (made by Sanpo [sic Mi-ho] at the factory of Zoshun.) see figure 28. Sanpo [sic Mi-ho] is the art name of Hisatomi [sic Hisatani] Yojibei, a potter to whom the development of this ware was mainly due and whose date is from about 1825 onwards.

Old Imari wares are rarely marked except with apocryphal Chinese dates or meaningless devices. Imari wares, as for instance the family name of Fukagawa (fig. 29), representatives of which have been potters at Arita since about 1650. Figure 29 reads, Dai Nipon Hizen Sarayama Fukagawa sei - "Made by Fukagawa at Sarayama, Hizen, in Great Japan." Fukagawa Eizaemon [sic Ezaiemon] took a prominent part in 1876 in the forming of the Koransha ("the company of the fragrant orchid"), a potters' association of considerable importance. Another company was founded in 1880 by Tsugi (figure 30 - reads, Hizen Tsugi sei - "Made by Tsugi in Hizen"), who seceded from the Koransha; it is known as the Seiji Kaisha [sic Seiji-sha] ("pure ware company"), and had for its object the manufacture of ware for export, though it also caters for the home market.

The factory of Kameyama, near Nagasaki, was opened about 1803 and continued to about 1846. Blue and white porcelain, skillfully painted, was its main product, but the ware as compared with that of Arita is more chalky, the glaze less pure and the blue wanting in richness and depth.

The famous factory at Okawachi-yama (contracted form of O-Kawa-uchi-yama) is situated eight miles from Arita. It was founded about 1660 by the feudal chief of Nabeshima who removed the best workmen from the old pottery opened by Coreans at Hirose some sixty years before. The Okawachi establishment was liberally subsidized, and the best potters were raised to one of the lower grades of nobility ; officials were appointed to watch the workmen, to keep off strangers, and to prevent the sale of the Nabeshima-yaki to outsiders. In this way the ware was kept free from foreign influences, and the decoration is consequently pure Japanese. As compared with the Arita porcelain, the Nabeshima ware has a finer and whiter paste, and a glaze more pure and lustrous, and less marked by the minute pitting described above (p. 76). In the enamelled pieces, under-glaze blue takes quite a subordinate position and disappears altogether in one class in which the style of Kakiemon is closely followed. The enamels are of the finest quality, including an amethystine purple verging on lilac, an opaque lustrous green, turquoise-blue and rarely black, beside a red of lighter and more orange tint than that used at Imari, and gold in sparing quantities. Some of this enamelled Nabeshima ware found its way to Europe in spite of precautions, and has been usually classed with the Kakiemon porcelain.

Another class is decorated in a superior under-glaze blue, though not so intense and brilliant as the Chinese and less soft and refined than that of Hirado. The designs were mostly floral, or conventional scrolls and diapers; cherry branches in blossom, sprays of chrysanthemum, hydrangeas, and peonies are most common, with conventional butterflies, birds, blossom, etc., in orange red and gold (plate 16, fig. 1). Figures and landscapes are rare and usually betray Chinese influence. Marks were not used, but the ware is generally distinguished by a formal dentated, or comb, pattern (Kushide), which encircles the foot-rim (fig. 31). It should be mentioned, however, that this comb pattern occasionally appears on Kaga porcelain. Another speciality of the Okawachi factory was celadon (seiji), which compares favourably in its delicate colour with the old Chinese ; the paste of this ware is either white porcelain or reddish stoneware.

When the abolition of feudalism in 1868 removed the protective patronage which the factory had enjoyed so long, the Nabeshima porcelain practically died out, though a coarse crackled stoneware with ornament in red and gold continued to be made.

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/hodson_hichozan_fukagawa_mark.jpg

Hobson fig. 29.

大日本
肥前
皿山
深川製

Dai Ni-hon
Hi-zen
Sara-yama
Fuka-gawa sei

Made by
Fukagawa at Sarayama,
Hizen,
Great Japan

日肥山深川造 Nichi Hizen Fukagawa zo

The International studio, Volume 41, Charles Holme, Guy Eglinton, Peyton Boswell, William Bernard McCormick, Henry James Whigham, Offices of the International Studio, 1910.

Koransha, a great porcelain factory of Arita, in Hizen, established by the father of the present head of the company, turns out many artistic pieces of porcelain. Fukagawa Eizaemon [sic Yeizayemon], the head of that company, is a very able successor to his father, who was not only a good potter, but a most cultivated man; and he has increased his father's business very largely by gathering round him many good designers and potters. The vase illustrated on this page is a beautiful specimen of Imari or Arita porcelain decorated with a design of ferns in blue under the glaze and gold over the glaze. Chuji, a younger brother of the head of Koransha, is now working independently, and he often produces artistic porcelain. There are numerous porcelain factories and potters in Arita, the greatest porcelain centre of Japan, as it has been always since porcelain was made in Japan.

SIGNATURES FOR KORANSHA

http://www.koransha.co.jp/history/logo.html

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KISABU SEI (喜三製) SIGNATURE.
Trademark of Kisabu Toshikian also known by other names shown below.
Noted by www.koransha.com as the trade mark of Kisabu Toshikian.
Noted by Jahn Gisela, Meiji Ceramics, names of Kisabu - Fukami (Fukaumi) Heizaemon (Kisabu).
Noted by Meikan-web.com, Kisabu Toshikian 年木庵喜三.
Kisabu Toshikian also painted Hichozan wares.
circa 1875

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/KORANSHA_MARK-118.jpg

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/KORANSHA_MARK-127.jpg

KORANSHA ORCHID TRADE MARK

circa 1875 to 1890

WITHOUT ORCHID TRADE MARK & NICHI HIZEN FUKAGAWA SEI
(日肥山深川製)

Early to Mid Meiji era (1875-1890)

Made in Sarayama Arita Hizen Japan by Fukagawa

ORCHID TRADE MARK & NICHI HIZEN FUKAGAWA ZO
(深川造)

Early to Mid Meiji era (1875-1890)

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/KORANSHA_MARK-103.jpg

Made in Sarayama Arita Hizen Japan by Fukagawa

WITHOUT ORCHID TRADE MARK & NICHI HIZEN FUKAGAWA ZO
(日肥山深川造)

Early to Mid Meiji era (1875-1890)

Made in Sarayama Arita Hizen Japan by Fukagawa

WITHOUT ORCHID TRADE MARK & HICHOZAN FUKAGAWA SEI
(肥蝶山深川製)

Mid Meiji era (circa 1890)

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/hichozan_fukagawa-101.jpg

ORCHID TRADE MARK & FUKAGAWA SEI
(深川製)

End of early Meiji era (circa 1879-1890)

ORCHID TRADE MARK & FUKAGAWA TSUIJI ZO
(深川造)

End of early Meiji era (circa 1879-1890)

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/KORANSHA_MARK-102.jpg

ORCHID TRADE MARK HIZEN ARITA FUKAGAWA SEI
(肥前有田深川製)

ORCHID TRADE MARK & FUKAGAWA ZO
(深川造)

Late Meiji era (circa 1900-1912)

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/KORANSHA_MARK-111.jpg

http://www.waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/KORANSHA_MARK-113.jpg

UMEBOCHI PLUM FLOWER MARK

Meiji era

IMPRESSED ORCHID TRADE MARK
& KOORAN [コオラン] WRITTEN IN KATAKANA IN FAN

Early Taisho to Showa era

ORCHID TRADE MARK

Showa era

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORAN CHINA Hand Painted

Showa era to late 1940s

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA (香蘭社)

circa 1961; blue, gold, red

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA (香蘭社)

circa1965; in blue and gold

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA [香蘭社]

Showa era until 1975

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA JAPAN

Showa era circa 1975

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA JAPAN

Showa era

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA CLASSIC SEI (香蘭社製)

Showa era circa 2007

http://waiapo.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/koransha_mark-1.jpg

ORCHID TRADE MARK & KORANSHA SEI (香蘭社製)

Showa era

ORCHID TRADE MARK

Showa era 1970-1984

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