Sometsuke 染付
染 dye · 付 attach
Sometsuke is underglaze decoration painted in cobalt blue on white porcelain. The cobalt pigment (gosu) is applied to the bisque-fired body before a clear glaze is applied and the piece is fired at high temperature, turning the design blue. The technique originated in China and spread across Asia and Europe; in Japan it was established in early-17th-century Arita.
The artisan paints cobalt oxide directly onto the pre-glazed ceramic body. Each piece is painted by hand, so no two pieces are exactly alike, with each brushstroke varying in character.
