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Japanese Porcelain

Jenyns, Soame

Japanese Porcelain is the first comprehensive book on the subject to have been published in the west. It traces the history of the important kilns and potters, and outlines the many theories and traditions about the various wares that exist in Japan and elsewhere, discussing in detail such controversial matters as the identification of Ko Kutani porcelain.

It both describes the wares themselves and assesses their great artistic merit. Soame Jenyns brought unique qualifications to writing this work. He was the first European scholar to visit the Japanese porcelain kilns and examine the problems with the leading ceramic authorities in that country. He also studied the important existing texts on the subject and was able to check many statements against the records of the Dutch East India Company, the chief exporters of Japanese porcelain to Europe during the seventeenth century.; From reviews: "This is a very much overdue book. Not only is it the crowning achievement of Mr Jenyn's ceramic studies, but it is the first book on Japanese porcelain which has any right to the title of a standard work." from Burlington Magazine.; "without doubt the most important book on Japanese porcelain to be published outside Japan, and it will remain the standard authority on the subject for many years to come. The fruit of prolonged study of the porcelains themselves, especially in the Japanese and English collections, it also shows a complete mastery of the considerable Japanese literature on the subject." by Douglas Barrett in the Journal of the Royal Central Asia Society.

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