Teiji - pottery manju depicting Raijin
Edo (Tokyo), circa 1860
A polychrome pottery manju depicting Raijin, the god of thunder, peering down though a gap in the clouds, his drum secured in a cloth sling on his back. He steadies himself with one hand against the cloud as he leans forward. Decoration in cream, blue, green and blue-green glaze against a brownish ground.
Bushell (Collectors’ Netsuke p. 166) records that Teiji was permitted to build a kiln inside the Tokyo garden of Matsudaira Yoshitake (lord of the Takasu clan of Gifu).This kiln was named Kaisuien, (Great Green Jade Pavilion). Meinterzhagen meanwhile records that a potter called Akiyama Teiji of Nagoya exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of 1878, suggesting that this might be the same craftsman.
