The Ceramic Wars
Why were Korean potters kidnapped and held hostage by Japanese invaders? And how did they transform the history of Japanese ceramics? In this episode Paul Greenhalgh and Stephanie Rozene explore the complicated relations between Korea and Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries, and show how ceramics became a major factor in the bitter conflict between the two of them during what has become known as the Ceramic Wars.
Ceramics and artwork in this week’s episode include:
Maebyeong Vase, Late 13th Century
Stoneware carving and filling with white and black slip.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Cropped) - Wikimedia Commons
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kodai Temple - Wikimedia Commons
Toyotomi Hideyoshi on his horse - Wikimedia Commons
Wine Ewer, First half of the 13th Century
Shigaraki climbing kiln - Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Water Jar, 17th Century
Noborigama, Tokoname - Wikimedia Commons
Raku Tea Bowl, Circa 1600
Ko Tamba Ware Water Jar, Mid 1500’s
Shigaraki Ware Vessel, 15th Century
Arita Ware Hexagonal Jars, Late 17th Century
Shigaraki Ware Vessel, 15th Century
Dish Depicting Lady with a Parasol, 1734—1737
Hagi Ware Tea Bowl, 19th Century - Freer Gallery of Art, Wikimedia Commons
Hagi Ware Tea Bowl, 20th Century - Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
Professor Paul Greenhalgh is a specialist on the art and design of the Modern period. He has written widely on Art Nouveau and curated several exhibitions including the major survey Art Nouveau 1890-1914, which toured internationally (2000-01). His books include Ephemeral Vistas (1988), Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau 1890–1914 (2000), The Modern Ideal (2005), Fair World (2011), L’Art Nouveau: La Revolution Decorative (2013), Ceramic Art and Civilisation (2021) and Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth (2022). He has held positions as Head of Research at the V&A Museum, London; President and Director at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Director of the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich; and Inaugural Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, London. He was born and raised in Bolton, and is a proud Lancastrian.
Stephanie Rozene is a ceramic artist, Professor of Art, and the Ceramics Program Coordinator at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York she has been teaching, writing and making art since 2004. At Hartwick she's been honored with the Wandersee Scholar in Residence award twice, along with the Teacher Scholar Award. Stephanie's research uses historical ornament and porcelain as a visual language to critique contemporary political rhetoric, and she also explores the history of clay as a cooking tool. Her work has been shown extensively both nationally and internationally. She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics and is the Vice President of the board of trustees for the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, and was educated at NSCAD University in Nova Scotia, Canada and the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
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