I am offering a set of six-inch plates featuring a design of Mount Fuji in blue and white underglaze, made by the renowned craftsman Ito Shirozaemon of the Meiji-era Seto Chihōen kiln. Ito Shirozaemon was active from the early Meiji period to the early Showa period, spanning two generations. He was a sometsuke (blue and white porcelain) kiln owner in the Minami-Shintani district of Seto, present-day Kaminokiri-cho and Akiba-cho, primarily producing porcelain tableware for domestic use. He used the mark Chihōen, and his works were highly regarded for their quality. They were described as "products of meticulous preparation, constantly striving for the careful selection of materials and glazes, resulting in superior goods that cannot be imitated by others," and "Chihōen's Nara tea bowls and plates are known to all for their exquisite craftsmanship and reliability." He also received high praise, being noted for "striving to improve the quality of glazes and paying attention to design, Chihōen is particularly renowned for its domestic products. The twisted plates with auspicious patterns are examples of their fine quality." The most notable feature of Chihōen's work is the delicacy of its sometsuke. They were particular about hand-painted designs, and rarely featured the typical flower and bird motifs often seen in Seto sometsuke. Instead, they often depicted stylized patterns, using cobalt blue, chromium oxide, and other materials. They also completely avoided techniques like copper plate transfer printing. This particular piece is a masterpiece, featured on the cover of the catalog shown in the last photo. The geometric patterns on the rim of this work are all underglaze. Underglaze color painting can be challenging due to its interaction with the glaze, and the more colors used, the more difficult it becomes to achieve good color development. However, this piece displays a brilliant color development with masterful brushwork. Mount Fuji was a favorite motif of Ito Shirozaemon, and the depiction of its majestic form in this piece truly embodies the phrase "superior goods that cannot be imitated by others." The Chihōen factory had connections to important figures in Japanese ceramics history, including Kato Toshiro, who later became a Living National Treasure, who worked as a painter, and Komori Shinobu, who used the factory as the location for his Tsubakigama kiln, which he founded in Seto. The Chihōen factory, managed by Shirozaemon for two generations, ceased operations in April 1928 when it was used as the factory for the aforementioned Tsubakigama kiln. However, records of his activities, such as the application for a commercial law backstamp registration in 1935 and his appointment as a commissioner for the Pan-Pacific Exposition in 1936, show that connections remained, but activities ceased in 1942. The level of sometsuke is exceptional. As a master craftsman of the Meiji era, his works are also displayed in the Seto-gura Museum in Seto City and the Yokoyama Museum of Art in Nagoya. One plate is missing. There are no issues with use. Please check the photos. Thank you.