1842-1916
male
makuzu pottery
mushiake pottery
imperial household artist
Born the fourth son of Miyagawa Chozo, his older brother Chohei was first in line as successor to their father, but when Chohei died at a young age, Kozan stepped into the place left by his brother and took over the family business at the age of 19. He had studied painting under Daigado Yoshiaki of Sorinji prior to returning to succeed his father in 1868, after which he went to Okayama for technical guidance at the Mushiake kiln. Opened a kiln in Yokohama in 1971 with the aim of exporting ceramics (known from then on as Yokohama-ware, Yokohama Makuzu-ware, etc.) overseas, where he developed color painting and three-dimenstional modeling to produce superb works in high relief, overglaze enamel, Satsuma brocade, celadon, blue-white porcelain and underglaze.
Having won honorary gold prizes at the Vienna World’s Fair in 1873, the Paris Exposition Universelle Gold Award in 1878, as well as awards at Philadelphia, Sydney in 1979 and Melbourne in 1880, MAKUZU-WARE gained a special worldwide reputation among exported ceramics. Kozan’s name rose far beyond that of a simple potter to the point where he was recognized as a world-class artist and so in 1884 he was honored as an Artist of the Imperial Household.
