Miyagawa Kōzan I

Place: Kyoto

Born: 1842

Death: 1916

Biography:

Miyagawa Kōzan I, also known as Makuzu Kōzan, was a Japanese ceramist born in Kyoto in 1842 and died in 1916. He was appointed artist to the Japanese Imperial household and was one of the major potters of the Meiji era. From 1876 to 1913, Kōzan won prizes at 51 exhibitions, including the World's Fair and the National Industrial Exhibition. He was a master of various techniques and styles, including porcelain in color of the Kyō-yaki style, painting nishikide of Satsuma, celadon, porcelain white, sometsuke (blue and white porcelain), kôyû (yellow enamel), detailed painting or relief. His signature is often in blue cobalt under the glaze, in the manner of Chinese imperial porcelain marks of the eighteenth century. He is recognized in Japan and abroad, and received awards at the Universal Exhibition of Philadelphia in 1876, as well as two first prizes at the Paris Universal Exhibitions of 1878 and 1889. In 1896, he was named artist of the Ministry of the Imperial Household in Japan, along with Namikawa Sōsuke, Namikawa Yasuyuki and Kishi Chikudō.