陶製人形で使われる粘土とは?【土の声を聴く。「瀬戸陶芸社」編コラム】 

What kind of clay is used in ceramic dolls? [Listening to the voice of the soil. Column compiled by Seto Togeisha]

Seto City in Aichi Prefecture is a pottery production center with a history of over 1,000 years.
The reason for this is that the best clay for pottery, called "Gairome," can be extracted here.

Why is frog eye suitable for pottery?
Its main feature is its plasticity, which allows it to retain its shape like a shape-memory alloy, making it very easy to throw on a potter's wheel. It turns pure white when fired and is highly fire-resistant. If it is refined and the clay content is mixed with feldspar and silica, it can even be used to make porcelain clay.

It is truly a clay that was born for pottery. Thanks to this clay, pottery has been produced in Seto for over a thousand years. However, frogeye is a natural resource that is dug from the mountains, and as it is dug up, it disappears.

I would like more people to know about this.
We spoke to people involved in the ceramic raw materials industry and potteries who work with clay in Seto.

*If you would like to know more about frog eyes, please click here .

*

This time, we visited Seto Tougeisha, a doll manufacturer that has been making ceramic dolls such as zodiac animals and Hina dolls since 1951. They use a clay called "Hakuun" to make their ceramic dolls. What kind of clay is used to make ceramic dolls? We will introduce you to the history of ceramic doll making in Seto.

What is Seto Togeisha?

Seto Togeisha has been making ceramic dolls since 1951.
The president himself has an idea, or an original drawing by an in-house designer is used as a prototype by a sculptor, and then the mold is made, the piece is fired, and even the painting is done, all by hand by craftsmen.

(For more details, see this article.)

In 2020, the original local toy brand "Toy Workshop" was launched, and in addition to standard products, a zodiac series is released every year.

It also appears in the "Lucky Cans " that are sold every New Year by MUJI, which helped us with the exhibition this time .

These are so-called "clay dolls," painted with ceramic paints on the clay. However, the way they are made is a little different from the way most people imagine clay being placed in a mold and then hand-formed.

I would like to share with you its unique history.

The history of doll making in Seto

Doll making in Seto began in the mid-Meiji period.
The company began by producing items such as beckoning cats, Inari foxes, and Fukusuke, and
in 1903, Satoru Kato, who ran a barber shop in Seto City and was also an inventor enthusiast, invented a ceramic toy that floats on water.

The idea was to hollow it out to make it lighter so that it could float, but no one had thought of something like that at the time.

Upon learning of this invention, Yamashiro Ryuhei, known as the originator of "Seto Novelty," made time to go and see it while working at his apprenticeship, Maruriki Shoten. He said, "This is interesting," and repeatedly put his hand into the water to push the floating ceramic pieces to the bottom.

The following year, Kinjiro Ito, a trading kiln owner, began production. He received the goldfish as a sample and showed it to a merchant in Osaka, who responded, "Oh, that might be interesting," and things progressed smoothly . The goldfish quickly became popular nationwide, and it is said that goldfish were even seen floating in bathtubs at public baths. At the time, most toys were made of tin, so the beautiful shape and color of the goldfish caught the attention of parents.

However, in Seto, the mainstay is making ceramic tableware, and there is no tradition of making toys or dolls. Yanagihira has a strong passion for toys, and when he finds a time when Maruriki's master is in a good mood, he encourages him to reach out for the toys.

Within ten years, the company had become a pioneer in the toy industry, and Ryuhei, who became the head clerk, made a name for himself throughout the country, leading to the establishment of his own company, Yamashiro Ryuhei Shoten (later Maruyama Pottery).


At the beginning of the Taisho era, adorable German bisque dolls of infants were extremely popular in America. This caught the eye of the export trading company Morimura Brothers, the predecessor of the global Western-style tableware brand Noritake Tableware.

During the Meiji period, Western tableware, which was in demand in America, was made in Seto using plaster molds and exported. Because the yen was weak at the time, it was cheap and of good quality from an American perspective. However, as demand for Western tableware gradually subsided, the company's next target was dolls.

The person they approached
was Ryuhei Yamashiro, who was passionate about toys. When World War I (1914-1918) broke out and supplies to America from Germany, the largest producer, were cut off, Yamashiro began promoting bisque dolls made in Seto, and they sold like hotcakes.

They began receiving large orders, and the technology continued to evolve, forming the foundation for everything from mass-produced dolls to high-end dolls that cost hundreds of thousands of yen each.

Exports to the American market were closed during World War II, but were revived after the war. From 1960 to 1970, in particular, the country became one of the world's leading novelty producers. However, a downturn came with the signing of the Plaza Accord in 1985.

The yen appreciated from 360 yen to the dollar to the 70 yen range, forcing many businesses to change their operations. Those ceramic manufacturers that continued to operate moved their bases overseas where production could be done more cheaply.

However, Seto Togeisha is a pottery factory that was established in response to a request to make Fushimi dolls in Kyoto, and has been able to survive by focusing on domestic demand.

Light and pure white. "Shirakumo" clay is ideal for making dolls.

So, Seto Novelty was born out of this magnificent history. The development of clay was the background to the creation of dolls.

"Shirakun is Japan's first ceramic clay made from dolomite, which was developed in 1931 by the former National Ceramics Testing Institute. It was successfully commercialized in Seto in the early 1940s. Its distinctive features are its white color, which makes it easy to paint, and its good color development. It is also very light, so it won't break during transportation."

This is what Yusuke Mizuno, producer of Toy Workshop, said.
What's particularly amazing about this clay, even today, is that it's light, has low customs duties, and can be shipped directly in a paper box without the need to wrap it in cushioning mirror matting.

Seto Tougeisha sources its clay from Tsuchiya in the Shinano area of ​​Seto City. The raw materials for Hakuun are dolomite, Hiraki pottery stone, silica, the familiar Seto-produced frogeye clay, and Kibushi clay, which has a strong ability to keep its shape.

When it was first developed, the standard mix was around 30% dolomite, 47% Otoge pottery stone, and 23% Kibushi clay, but now the ingredients used have increased slightly.

When asked why, they said, "Because it's made from natural ingredients, there's a big variation depending on the ingredients, so they've reduced the percentage per piece and developed it to ensure a stable supply."

Shirakumo clay arrives in slabs, which are mixed with water and stirred until they become a slurry, which is then poured into plaster molds and used.

Plaster has the property of absorbing moisture, and hardens from the outside of the slip. Once the dried slip has reached the required thickness, the mold is turned upside down and the excess slip is poured off. For this reason, it is also called "gaba-zukumi" (casting with a lot of water).

Once it has hardened, remove it from the mold. At this point, the clay is gray in color.

However, when baked in an electric kiln at approximately 1,030 degrees , it turns pure white.

Then, artisans paint this pure white fabric with ceramic paints to complete the piece.

lastly

Seto has a long history of producing pottery because of the excellent clays it produces, such as frogeye and wood-bush.

Mass production progressed, and in 1901, stating that "product standardization and quality control must begin with the clay production," potters from Seto and Morimura Gumi established a "raw material storage facility" to research and develop porcelain clay, and progress was made in blending the clay used as raw materials .

I would be very happy if it could be conveyed that the "Hakuun" used in this Seto Novelty is also an extremely rare clay that was born throughout history.

reference:
"Export Ceramics and Nagoya Port" (Chunichi Publishing)
Seto Novelty Takumi Network " (Seto City Regional Promotion Department, Manufacturing and Commerce Promotion Division)

*If you are interested in the items in the "Toy Workshop", please click here .

[Listening to the Voice of the Soil: Introduction to the Series]

Part 1: From raw soil to clay. [Listening to the voice of the soil. Column on the Kasen Mine]
Part 2: "I want to leave the soil for future generations" [Listening to the voice of the soil: Column on Seto Hongyo Kiln]
Part 3: Craftsmanship is understanding the materials. [Listening to the voice of the soil. "Sakusuke Kiln" column]
Part 4: What happens when you bake clay? [Listening to the voice of the clay. Column by Miyama Pottery Studio]
Part 5: In search of the beauty of white and blue. [Listening to the voice of the soil: Shin Kiln Column]
Part 6: Don't turn it into industrial waste. Think about recycling soil. [Listen to the voice of the soil. "Soujuen" column]
Part 7: What kind of clay is used in ceramic dolls? [Listening to the voice of the soil. Column compiled by Seto Tougeisha]
Part 8: Are the raw materials for pottery and glass harvested from the same mountain? [Listening to the voice of the soil: A column from "Jinya Marusen Ceramic Raw Materials"]
Part 9: Clay making by a long-established clay company founded about 150 years ago [Listening to the voice of the soil. Column on "Maruishi Ceramic Raw Materials"]

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