Pottery of an inferior kind was made anterior to the Christian era, but probably the oldest known was made by the people who occupied the country before the present Japanese. The ancient vase (Fig. 87) is an example of this early ware. It is of a coarse kind of earthenware, baked or fired in a hole in the ground, over which and around the vessel was built a wood fire. [Illustration: Fig. 89.—Incense-Burner, Arita Ware; _circa_ 1710.] Japanese wares are of three kinds: the common stoneware ornamented with scratched lines and glazed; a crackled glazed ware with painted decorations; and the porcelain. The porcelain of Japan is first baked to the biscuit state, then the colours of the decoration are applied, and the piece is afterwards glazed, and is again fired at a greater heat. The gilding or enamel colours that may be required are put on afterwards, when a third firing at a lower temperature is necessary. The Japanese porcelain paste does not stand the firing so well as the Chinese, and consequently the pieces are often twisted and altered in shape. [Illustration: Fig. 90.—Pierced Glazed Water-bottle, from Madura. (B.)] The factories of Hizen are among the very oldest and are still in working order in Japan. Old Hizen ware is decorated with blue paintings. The pottery and porcelain of Seto manufacture is highly esteemed, and the name of _Setomono_ has been given by the Japanese to their porcelain ware. The Kutani ware is a coarse porcelain, known also under the name of Kaga ware; the pieces with a red ground and gold ornamentation are highly valued. It is also glazed with deep green, light purple, and yellow colours. One of the most famous and costliest Japanese wares is the old Satsuma, which was first made by the Corean potters who settled in the village of Nawashirogawa, in the province of Satsuma, about 1600. This ware is of a dark cream colour, with a crackled glaze, and is decorated with red, green, and gold outlined ornament (Fig. 88) A specimen of the Hizen potteries porcelain, Arita ware, is illustrated at Fig. 89, of an incense-burner. It is painted in bright colours of red, green, pale blue, and has some gilding. It is decorated with hares or rabbits and waves in the panels and dragons on the cover. INDIAN POTTERY. The making of pottery is universal throughout India. The unglazed wares are made everywhere, and of various colours. Red glazed pottery is made at Dinapur, gilt pottery at Amroha and in Rajputana; black and silver pottery at Azimghar in the north-west, and at Surujgarrah in Bengal; painted pottery at Kota, the unglazed pierced variety at Madura, and the celebrated glazed pottery made at Sindh and in the Punjaub. [Illustration: Fig. 91.—Glazed Pottery of Sindh. (B.)]