I am offering a 6-inch plate from the Meiji era, Seto ware, made by Senpoen, a master craftsman, Shirozaemon Ito, featuring a design of Mt. Fuji in blue and white (fuji-san). Shirozaemon Ito was a master craftsman who operated from the early Meiji period to the early Showa period, spanning two generations. He was a sometsuke (blue and white) kiln owner in the Minami-Shintani district of Seto, present-day Kaminokiri-cho and Akiba-cho, and primarily manufactured porcelain tableware for domestic use. He used the name Senpoen for his mark, and his works were highly regarded for their high quality. It was written that "Since its establishment, the products have been meticulously prepared, and they have always strived for the careful selection of materials and glazes, resulting in excellent products that cannot be imitated by others." It was also noted that "Senpoen's Nara tea bowls and plates are known to everyone for their exquisite and reliable quality." Furthermore, he received high praise, with comments such as "He worked hard to improve the quality of glazes and paid attention to design, so Senpoen was particularly well-known for its domestic products. The twisted plates with auspicious patterns are examples of their fine quality." The most notable feature of Senpoen is the delicacy of its sometsuke. They were particular about hand-painted designs, and the patterns rarely featured the typical flower and bird motifs often seen in Seto sometsuke. Instead, they often depicted stylized patterns, using materials like chrome oxide and seionshi in addition to blue underglaze. They also completely avoided techniques like copper plate transfer printing. This piece is truly a masterpiece among masterpieces, as it was featured on the cover of the catalog shown in the last photo. Furthermore, the geometric patterns drawn on the rim of this work are all underglaze. Underglaze coloring, due to its relationship with the glaze, tends to become blurred, and it is a difficult technique to achieve good color development, especially with a large number of colors. However, this piece displays excellent color development with masterful brushwork. Mt. Fuji was a favorite motif of Shirozaemon Ito, and the depiction of its majestic appearance in the painting is truly as the words say, "excellent products that cannot be imitated." The Senpoen factory had connections with important figures in Japanese ceramics history, including Toshimo Kato, who later became a Living National Treasure, who worked as a painter, and Shinobu Komori, who used the factory as the Yamatsubaki kiln (tsubakigama) he founded in Seto. The Senpoen factory, managed by Shirozaemon over two generations, ceased operations when it was used as the Yamatsubaki kiln factory in April 1928. However, records of activity remained, such as the application for a commercial law mark registration in 1935 and his appointment as a commissioner for the Pan-Pacific Exposition in 1936, 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. There is a nyu (hairline crack), but it is not a crack. Therefore, it is offered at a low price. Thank you for your interest.