japanese antique bizen daruma figurine, old bizen ornament, ko bizen daruma

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An old piece of bizen (ko bizen) ceramic art work, in the shape of the god, Daruma. Daruma has evolved through various roles throughout time. He has been associated with sexuality and fertility, seen as a protector of children against diseases, a god of good fortune, bringing plentiful harvests and prosperity and nowadays a god of perseverance, giving one the determination to achieve goals.

The antique bizen Daruma stands tall, wrapped tightly in his robe, with the tips of his feet peeping out and the edges of his gown flapping gently in the wind. This pose is associated with the episode where Daruma travels to China, crossing the Yangzi River, while standing on a reed.

The Meiji Era ornament has the sheen of old bizen ware, resulting from extremely long firing at high temperatures and the clay used at that time. It is a reddish-brown color with an iron-like hardness that resembles bronze ware.

Figures of gods, people, mythological creatures, birds, fish and animals were turned out in quantities in the Meiji Era, many for export. The figures were first moulded and then given an individual touch by a master potter, edges were sharpened, details picked out and shapes varied by gentle pressure of the hands, so that no two objects were ever exactly alike.

The ornament is in good condition with no cracks or chips. There is the rattle of a small piece of clay inside. The kiln name is impressed on the back side.

Old bizen figures have the lovely rustic, folk art feel of Japanese mingei and their simple, earthy color lends them to many kinds of interiors. Their variety of interesting shapes and lucky images makes them highly collectible.

- measures around 9 cm (3.5”) across x 23 cm (9”) tall x 8 cm (3.1”) deep.
- weighs 710 gm.

(listing for daruma figure only)

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BIZEN HISTORY

Bizen roots are the unglazed Sueki earthenware vessels of the Oku region. Sueki stoneware was made using techniques that came from Korea in the Kofun, (250 AD - 538 AD), Nara (71 AD - 784 AD) and Heian (794 AD - 1185) periods. It was fired in an anagama at high temperatures and was generally grayish brown in colour.


In the latter Heian period the sword industy flourished and as a result the scarcity of firewood intensified. Sueki potters moved to Imbe in search of wood for their kilns. Artistic Sueki ware was abandoned and pottery that was necessary for people’s daily lives was produced, giving birth to Bizen pottery. At this time Bizen ware consisted of mainly containers, mortar bowls and jars.

From the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) into the Muromachi period,(1333 - 1573). Bizen pottery faced an age of unprecedented mass production and purchasing. The kilns that were once up in the mountains moved further down to the foot of the mountains. By the end of the Muromachi period the mountain clay used for Bizen pottery shifted to the use of clay from rice paddies.

Demand for Bizen ware increased and so did popularity, Goods had to be loaded and sent off from the harbour, so kilns gradually moved closer to Imbe village for convenient transportation. Bizen gained the reputation as a tough and sturdy ceramic with people saying, ‘even if you throw a Bizen earthenware mortar, it doesn’t break.’ Everyday wares were fired in large quantities and Bizen spread to various regions in Japan.

From the late Muromachi period into the Momoyama period, (1573-1603), masters of the tea ceremony, who had no utensils for their art, discovered aesthetic beauty in practical Bizen ware containers. By selecting Bizen ware, for use in the tea ceremony, as water jars and flower vases, Bizen daily articles grew ever more popular.

From around the Genwa year of the Edo period (1615-24), Bizen Pottery began to show signs of its prolonged decline. Tea ceremony tastes moved towards the new, more elegant and refined porcelains of Arita, Seto and Kyoto ware. Bizen was seen as crude and ugly with its exposed reddish, earthy surface. Bizen potters focused on producing ornaments that replaced the popular tea-wares of before.

In order to compete against porcelain, the technique of ‘Inbe-de’ was developed, giving pieces a lustre like that of glazed ware or copper ware. White Bizen, celadon, and colored bizen, known as Shizutani ware were also made. Shizutani pottery did not succeed and demand for Bizen pottery declined to the extent that large communal kilns could not be fired.
 
From the Bunmei Kaika in Meiji (1868- 1912). the age of civilization and enlightenment, European ways flourished and the traditional culture of Japan was given lower regard. Crude, earthy, undecorated wares like Bizen were not in demand. With the development of transportation systems, glazed porcelain wares of Seto and Arita could be obtained at reasonable prices and this hastened the departure from Bizen wares. Although difficult to imagine the goods that were produced in the largest quantities by kilns in Imbe were earthenware pipes and bricks!
 
After World War 1, the Japanese economy reached a stage where it could stand equally alongside the nations of Europe and America.
The decline in the appreciation of Japanese traditional culture was reassessed with much enthusiasm. Tea ceremony became popular amongst the newly emerging wealthy class. Tea bowls, water jars and vases were in demand and the tea wares that this class craved were Seto, Mino, Iga, Karatsu and Bizen ware pieces from the Momoyama period.

For Bizen, there was one potter who paid attention to the tea wares of the Momoyama period. His name was Kaneshige Toyo (1896-1967).
Toyo, who had once been famous in figurative handiwork decided to focus on the ‘return to Momoyama’ in his mid 30’s and began to recreate famous wares of Momoyama Bizen. Thanks to Toyo’s existence, potters of the same generation were also greatly encouraged and from this, successive potters continued to thrive under his influence. As a result, potters pursue their art independently in Bizen and it is said that there are now approximately 400 potters producing Bizen wares around Imbe.

DARUMA IN JAPAN
The Daruma of present day Japan actually finds it’s origins in an Indian Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma was the founding patriarch of the Chan/Zen school and he eventually became revered as an equal to the Buddha himself.

He went to China, to convert the Chinese, at the beginning of the sixth century and settled in Song Shan. Here it is said he practiced meditation for nine years facing a wall. Bodhidharma’s lofty teaching won him a few disciples, but also some powerful enemies, and he was eventually poisoned by two rivals. Soon after his death a Chinese emissary claimed to have met him. When Bodhidharma’s tomb was opened, it was found empty. He was deemed a Daoist Immortal.

According to a later Japanese tradition, Bodhidharma never returned to India but traveled on to Japan, where he was associated with the Tendai school and Shotoku Taishi (517-77). From the Tenadai school and the ‘one mind precepts’ of Bodhidharma (Daruma isshinkai) the first Zen school emerged, called the ‘Daruma school.’ There is a Daruma Temple at the foot of Mt. Kataoka; a monastery associated with Shotoku Taishi.

By the mid Edo era, the Indian patriarch of Chan/Zen had come a long way. He was an extremely popular deity and was now seen as a protector of children and bringer of good luck.

He was represented as a legless, tumbling talisman doll, that ‘falls seven times and rises eight times,’(nana korobi ya oki). This okiagari (falling and rising) form of Daruma comes from the belief that Bodhidharma, after sitting in meditation for nine years in a cave came to lose his legs.

This tumbling Daruma also lent itself to sexual symbolism, and until the Meiji period, phallic forms of Daruma in stone or paper mache were sold. Stone deity statues were often placed in the country at crossroads and they were associated with sexuality and fertility. These deity stones were called dosojin.

The name ‘Daruma’ was also a nickname for prostitutes in the Edo Era. Like the doll, these specialists of tumble could raise the energy of their customers! In ukiyoe Daruma was often presented in comical fashion in the company of a prostitute, sometimes even as a transvestite or as a woman. He was also a part of a couple called, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Daruma.’ The chubby Okame, (smiling woman who brings good luck to all) was often seen as his partner.

Daruma were initially good-luck objects (engimono) placed on the home altar (kamidana) to bring good harvests and prosperity to their owners. The okiagari Daruma soon became a popular symbol of perseverance, new beginnings and the attaining of one’s goal.

Daruma was also believed to help overcome illness rapidly. During the smallpox epidemic in the Edo period, Daruma had become a protector against smallpox. He was perceived as a god of smallpox (hosogami) but his role was to control the smallpox demons so they would not harm children. (hosogami were seen as the cause of epidemic diseases and eventually turned into protectors against these same diseases).

The Daruma doll was offered with other auspicious toys, like dogs to sick children. The color, symbolizing measles was important. The altar to the smallpox god was decorated with red paper strips, a daruma doll, and an owl and the sick child had to wear a red hood., just like Bodhidharma in his red robes with a red hood.

So Daruma has been represented in a variety of forms with much symbolism; the Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, likened to the Buddha himself and responsible for starting Zen Buddhism, a crossroad deity associated with sexuality and fertility, a god of epidemics who ultimately protected children against disease, a god of good fortune, bringing good harvests and prosperity, and a god of perseverance, giving one the determination to achieve goals.