Japanese Painted Pots

Painted pots often form part of a Shohin display thanks to their bright and detailed workmanship. The tradition of painted pots stretches far back in time in China and Korea, and due to the time spent on making them they are a luxurious item to own.

Due to their value they are often brought out for a tree in a show, and then the tree is returned to another pot on the bench. Pots are often displayed indoors where they can continue to be appreciated.

There are three common styles of painted pots:


Sometsuke - This is a Cobalt blue based paint, in ancient China Cobalt was for imperial use only and extremely expensive, and as many masterpieces are painted this way, it has retained that association ever since. 

Aka-e - Red underglaze painting, traditionally this is Copper based and requires a reduction atmosphere to transform the green copper to red.

Gosai-de  - a five colour overglaze method that originated in Kutani, using green, yellow, purple, navy and red pigments.