1820-1889
male
kutani porcelain
Kikusaburo Matsuya was born in 1820 as the second son of a doctor in the village of Kazuhari Komatsu. When Kikusaburo was thirteen years old at the beginning of the Tempo period, the Wakasugi and Ono kilns were operating as porcelain production factories, and it was natural for everyone to have dreams and aspirations of becoming a potter. Kikusaburo also wanted to become a potter and began training under Aoiya Gen’emon, who had returned to Komatsu from the Yoshidaya kiln at that time. Choosing Gen’ emon as his teacher was the most important factor in Kikusaburo becoming a master potter later on.
After completing several years of training under Gen’ emon, Kikusaburo spent the next ten years training under various kilns and painters, and when he returned to Komatsu at the age of twenty-seven, he once again received instruction from Gen’emon, opened the Rendaiji kiln, provided technical guidance to the Matsuyama kiln, and completed the blue-Kutani style. He contributed greatly to the transmission of the blue-Kutani style.
