Noritake History and Early Noritake
《Noritake history is Commerce history of Japan and America》 |
Noritake established |
Noritake company established in 1904. However, the opening is the Edo era.
Ichizaemon Morimura he ran harness shop was concerned about that Japanese
gold flowed out of country while various culture flowed in from Europe
and America.
In 1858, He noticed Japan suffers a loss because of bad exchage rate. And also he had seen situations that Japanese gold and silver were bought cheaply and flowed out into the foreign territory. So he talked with Yukichi Fukuzawa and got advice that it’s better to earn foreign currency by export trade to get back gold flowed out into the foreign territory. Depends on this suggestion Ichizaemon Morimura made up his mind to do export trade.
It was just the time the long policy of seclusion finished, and people felt the foreign countries were very far.
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Morimura Brothers Pioneer of Japanese shop in America |
In 1876, Ichizaemon Morimura established group of Morimura and dispatched a younger brother Toyo Morimura in New York. He opened the shop at 238 6street NY and sold china,japan,inrou,byoubu,kakejiku and sensu that was from Japan. Those goods were so popular, the american customer waited for them to arrive from Japan.
At first he worked alone hardly, Magobe Okura, Kazuchika Okura, Yasukata
Murai,Jitsuei Hirose they sympathized him and participated group of Morimura
one after the other. |
《Difficulty of dinnerware development》 |
Try to produce the white tableware |
In America china was popular. Morimuras thought it would be promising articles and they decided to produce and sell it. The ceramics which I exported were Japanese-style designs in those days, to extend business, tableware to use every day that was necessary to do a Western-style picture painting to white porcelain. And also they were impressed white china (they saw it in Expo Pris) and dispatched engineer to the Europe to improve on porcelain to pure white.
In 1904, they established Nippon Toki unlimited partnership (Nippon Toki Kaisha: previous Noritake Company) at Noritake-town, Nagoya-city. It was beginning for modern ceramic industry in Japan. |
They could make white porcelain, but it was difficult to produce a 25cm-dinner
plate. The big plate had been produced, but to produce the plate where
bottom was flat was most difficult task.
The form of Japanese tableware is different one by one. That’s engaging. On the contrary all the Western tableware is the same form. So they tried to produce it and spend a lot of days. One day, the employee who came to a deadlock had broken the a sample plate(It was form France). When he watched the broken section he noticed that the center part of the plate was thick. It was a reason they couldn’t make the flat plate.
In 1914, first dinnerware was completed in Japan. Now we can see the first dinnerware “sedan” in Noritake Museum. |
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《Early Noritake: Back Stamp Nippon》 |
A definition of Early Noritake |
Early Noritake, we cannot limit the generation clearly, is ornaments(a
vase, a pot, a ceramics doll ・・・)and dinnerware which were exported to
U.S.A. by group of Morimura and Nippon Toki unlimited partnership from
the end of 1800's to World WarⅡ. Those products are popular collector's
items that receive high acclaim as an artistic production, and are called
Early Noritake from an antique lover now.
Those Early Noritake is classified into roughly two. |
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( 1 ) An art nouveau |
The early work until 1910's strongly receives influence of popular art
nouveau in those days. An initial work was a vase and a candy box, etc.
however coffeepots etc. came to be produced gradually. And in 1914, first
their dinner set in Japan was completed. |
At that time, most commodities are exports to the United States and Europe, After a while, the commodity of the Europe and America style came to be sold to Imperial Household Ministry, Department of the Navy in Japan and some restaurants.
These products were the highest class grades and the design was peculiar, that the technique of the flower and bird picture of Japan and the design of Europe and America united. |
( 2 ) Art deco |
From end of Taishou era(about 1922) to beginning of Syowa era(about 1929),
not a high-level adornment till then but the fancy wear that was able to
mass-produce with machine was produced. These are very popular as a very
valuable collector's item among the Early Noritake Lovers. |
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