Designs and patterns are drawn on the inside and outside of the bowl with traditional kutani five paints (five colors were created for ko-kutani ; green, yellow, purple, blue and red), so remind of the ko-kutani. It is a rare color in Kanazawa kutani, where aka-e and brocade were the mainstream, but the color of the bowl is also similar to the work of the Fujioka Iwahana-do kiln (藤岡岩花堂) in Kanazawa, where this creator had worked.

The phoenix is painted in deep blue of kutani five paints and lined in gold. And it is flying with its wings spread in a circle. Around it, auspicious clouds, which is said to be a part of phenix, is drawn in red. It seems that it uses　a little more red, which is the complementary color of green among ko-kutani.

Two belts are laid around the edge, and the belt with the vertical lines in black zeffre is painted in purple to form a connecting pattern, which is like the pattern of ko-kutani. Similarly, a pattern that connects flowers, leaves of chrysanthemums is drawn in five colors, sandwiched between the belts. It is good to use five colors.

Although not shown in the image, the auspicious pattern is drawn on the outer surface, and the comb tooth pattern is drawn on the foot, which seems to be reminiscent of ko-kutani.

The back name is written as “金城Kinjo / 友山Yuzan” in the double square. “Kinjo” refers to Kanazawa, and Aoki Mokubei (青木木米, Kyo-yaki potter and painter in the Edo period) used it for the first time as the back name of kutani which were produced at Kasuga-yama kiln in Kanazawa in the Edo period. “Kinjo” was rarely used in Meiji Kutani.

creator of the work

Sasada Yuzan 笹田友山　born in 1840, died in 1914

Sasada Yuzan studied pottery from a child and opened his painting factory in 1872 and did the painting business, but the factory was closed in 1878, and after re -training at Ijun-sha (painting factory managed by 内海吉造), he restarted the painting business alone. He called “友山Yuzan”.

Although many of the works of Sasada are painted in brocade, it is said that the work of ko-kutani’s imitation goods was almost un authentic. His disciples were an excellent porcelain painters such as Takeuchi Seizan (竹内誠山) and Hatta Itsuzan (八田逸山).