Arita ware

Arita porcelain dish with underglaze blue, with design of river, weirs, and maple leaves, c. 1650–1670s
Arita Sarayama dish with overglaze polychrome enamel design of plum and fence, 1700–1730s

Arita ware (Japanese: 有田焼, Hepburn: Arita-yaki) is a broad term for Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island. It is also known as Hizen ware (肥前焼, Hizen-yaki) after the wider area of the province. This was the area where the great majority of early Japanese porcelain, especially Japanese export porcelain, was made.

In English usage "Arita ware" was traditionally used for the export wares in blue and white porcelain, mostly copying Chinese styles. The wares with added overglaze colours were called Imari ware or (a sub-group) Kakiemon. It is now recognized that the same kilns often made more than one of these types, and "Arita ware" is more often used as a term for all of them.[1] The brightly coloured Kutani ware is another type that is now recognised as coming from around Arita as well as the Kutani itself, and "Kutani-type" is used as a stylistic description.

  1. ^ Impey (1990), 71-73