Adults 1000(800)Yen
College Students:800(640)Yen
Elementary, Middle & High School Students:500(400)Yen
Seniors (65 and over with ID):500(400)Yen

*(　) are rates for groups of 20 or more
*Those with physical or mental disabilities and their attendants are free of charge.
*We are to welcome school visits (attending in Tokyo, high school and under) with accompanying teachers without admission fee. Please apply to the museum office beforehand.
*Senior (Over 65) visitors are not charged on the third Wednesday of each month (21 October. 18 November, and 16 December.).

Visitors who arrive wearing an accessory made of ceramics (a broach or pendant, for example) are eligible for a discount of 100 yen from the price of admission. (This discount cannot be combined with other discounts.)

Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum / Nikkei Inc.
With the patronage of: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands / Tokyo Metropolitan Government /Embassy of France
With the sponsorship of: NEC Corporation / NIPPONKOA INSURANCE CO., LTD.
With the special cooperation of: Usui collection
With the cooperation of: Japan Airlines
With the Annual sponsorship of: Toda Corporation / Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.

October 15, 2009, is the 350th anniversary of the first official exports of Japanese porcelain to Europe. To commemorate that historic event, this exhibition introduces a selection of superb works from the Usui Collection, the fruit of many years of thoughtful Paris-based collecting of Ko-Imari (early Imari porcelains, from Kyushu).
Ko-Imari not only entranced members of the royal and noble houses of Europe but also had a profound impact on the emergence of a ceramic culture in Europe.
Japanese porcelain began by imitating wares from China, the birthplace of porcelain, then went on to outstrip them, developing its own aesthetic and techniques. These examples of Ko-Imari from the Usui Collection attest to that achievement. Revisiting their homeland after a long sojourn abroad, they provide an opportunity to learn about the tastes of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European elites and their fascination with porcelain. They also invite us to appreciate the technical excellence Japanese porcelain achieved as Japan replaced China as the European market’s dominant source of porcelain during Chinese porcelain’s decline in the tumultuous transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty.
Ko-Imari was, however, more than a treasured import: it also had an enormous impact on the development of porcelain production in Europe. Having been produced for export, however, these historically significant wares are scarcely to be found in Japan today. These exquisite examples of Ko-Imari thus offer an unusual opportunity to trace the history of cultural contacts, and creative convergences, between East and West.

It was in 1659 that Arita porcelain officially began to be exported to Europe. From then on, the 1660s was the period during which the largest quantity of porcelain was exported. Some were made referring to Chinese porcelain as the model and others were based on European ceramics. There were more utility goods such as tableware and vessels for alcoholic drinks. Whether because many works were for practical use, a considerable proportion are decorated in underglaze cobalt-blue. While most works were made to order, as it was a period when both domestic and foreign demand converged on Arita porcelain, it seems that some orders could not be met and there are not a few dishes that were selected from among products intended for domestic consumption and exported.

In response to strict orders from the Dutch trading company, a perfect milky-white body with no flaws or distortions was perfected in the 1670s. Delicate designs applied in overglaze polychrome enamel on this impeccable body resulted in the typical Kakiemon-style overglaze polychrome enameled porcelain. While this style originated at the Kakiemon kiln, it spread all over Arita and became known as the Kakiemon style. The overglaze polychrome enameled porcelain in Kakiemon style was popular in Europe. From around the 1680s, the European royalty began to order sets of five jars and bottles. The reason these sets began to be made was that the Edo Shogunate issued an order restricting trade in Nagasaki in 1685. Furthermore, spurred by a vogue for ornaments to decorate European palaces, the export of sets of five large jars and bottles began. The Dutch trading company also ordered porcelain marked with the company’s acronym VOC.

The overglaze polychrome enamel ware produced in Arita gained more magnificent splendor with gold decoration. Orders for larger jars and bottles to decorate the palaces were received and large jars measuring 90 centimeters in height were produced. Porcelain with overglaze gold became the mainstream and porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue design decreased. The exoticism of designs depicting Japanese genre was favored and many examples were produced during this period. In 1684, having achieved national unity, the export of Chinese porcelain was resumed and Jingdezhen ware competed with Arita ware in the European market. As Arita porcelain had already achieved a certain status, this time, Jingdezhen received orders based on Arita ware samples and they produced overglaze polychrome enameled porcelain following Arita ware examples. This is known as Chinese Imari.

Arita porcelain lost in the price competition with Jingdezhen, the Netherlands was on the decline, and porcelain production expanded in Meissen and other locations in Europe. Due to such factors, the export of Arita porcelain declined. The last flower of the period during which Arita porcelain was exported is the few examples characteristic of this period which can be found in Vienna, where Maria Theresa ruled over the Habsburg Empire from 1740.
The export of Arita porcelain ended officially in 1757. From then on, there was only a certain amount of porcelain exported on a private basis.