Japanese Satsuma Bowls

Many have said that possibly the most unique, delicate and special pieces of Satsuma Pottery are the bowls and plates that were made in the 19th century. The term Satsuma refers to the region on the south island of Japan, which is where these items of earthenware pottery were made hundreds of years ago.

Due to the popularity of the satsuma range and style of pottery, many lower quality products were made at the same time, mostly for export to other countries such as America or Europe. As with all high quality antiques, there are often people that mimic or copy the style and the Satsuma was a victim of this. Although, it was not that the imitation pottery was not wanted or needed by the Japanese, as the factories that made this low grade pottery stood along side the potters that were making the higher quality items. It is assumed that the mass production of these items was deliberate.

The authentic Satsuma bowls come in various different shapes and sizes and all feature the classic and well known style of decoration that has made them popular as collectors items all over the world. It is possible that even though the Satsuma Bowls are smaller and more intricate than larger pieces, the artwork and design on them is actually better, more detailed and of better handy work than anything else.

Satsuma pottery is famous for its off white, creamy pottery which features heavily patterned and illustrated enameled images, covered with a crackled glaze. Various techniques were employed by the artists and makers of these amazing pieces of pottery, such as using raised enameling to create a slight relief to the designs and makes them even more desirable. The bowls were also not just round objects. The makers gave the pieces odd shapes or circumferences that were tweaked to form the shapes of petals. The bowls were also quite often a deep, rectangular design and also came in a design that we might call a jar or medium size vase.

Some of the Satsuma bowls have handles or some sort of carrying lip or ledge that allows them to be handled safely. There are also many bowls that have decorated lids or covers which leads many to think that the bowls were actually used for a purpose such as carrying food rather than just being decorative objects. Although these items are so beautiful and are so valuable, its hard to imagine them being used for everyday purposes as they seem so delicate.

Small plates and bowls form a large portion of the collections of people who like Satsuma Pottery. Unlike the larger items such as the Satsuma Vase, the smaller items like the bowls, or geisha buttons have more detail and are as collectible as any other piece. The level of craftsmanship that went into creating these pieces of Japanese pottery is amazing and they are definitely a valuable investment for any antiques collector.

Japanese Satsuma Bowls