1831-1892
male
Wagner came to Japan from Germany and was later employed by the Japanese government. He taught at the Kyoto Prefectural Medical School (now Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine), at the University of Tokyo, and at the Tokyo Vocational Institute of Technology (now Tokyo Institute of Technology). He also taught the manufacture of ceramics and glass. Based on the knowledge of chemistry he learned in Germany, he was deeply involved in the Japanese ceramic industry. His guidance of the ceramic industry in Arita pioneered the modernization of Imariyaki (Arita porcelain).
At the institute in Kyoto, which lasted from 1870 to 1881, his duties included the dissemination of manufacturing techniques for industrial chemical products, and with the help of Nagaraku Kazuzen, he taught pottery, cloisonne enamel ware, and glass manufacturing methods. In the field of ceramics, he invented a new type of kiln that used both wood and coal as fuel and utilized heat from the fire in two stages, with the first stage for firing and the second stage for unglazing.
Wagner arrived in Kyoto as an advisor on July 8, 1873, and helped select suitable craftsmen and works to be presented at the World Exposition. 1877-1879, he devoted a year to the study of cloisonne enamel ware, and the cloisonne enamel ware company that took over his work received an honorable mention at the second National Industrial Exhibition in 1881. 1879 In 1880, he built a ceramics experimental factory on Gojozaka, where he attempted to fire celadon porcelain. He also developed a transparent glaze to replace the opaque glaze used in cloisonne enamel ware up to that time, introducing vivid colors to Kyoto cloisonne enamel ware. The transparent glaze dramatically enhanced the beauty of Japanese cloisonne enamel ware, and four years later at the Paris Grand Exposition, Minakawa Sosuke was awarded the Honorary Grand Prize and Namikawa Yasuyuki the Gold Prize, which were highly acclaimed internationally.
After these experiences, he began researching new ceramics and developed Asahi ware in 1883. Asahi ware was made using a method called underglaze painting, in which ceramics were first painted and then glazed and fired, whereas previous ceramics were mainly glazed and fired, then painted and fired again. This method made products that suited European tastes, which disliked the penetration and distortion of ceramics. In 1890, the Asahi ware cooperative was established by Shibusawa Eiichi and others, and stove decoration tiles and other products were exported. However, due to high costs, the cooperative was dissolved in 1896, after Wagner’s death.
