Kiyomizu Rokubei III (1820-1883) Antique sake cup #4163

- width: approx. 8cm (3 5⁄32in)

- height: approx. 4.6cm (1 13⁄16in)

- weight: 88g

- condition: small chip on the rim

Kiyomizu Rokubei III (1820-1883)
Born as the second son of Rokubei II, he was initially apprenticed to a safflower wholesale store, but as his father started a new family branch by designating his eldest son as Kiyomizu Shichibei, he was sent back home and became the third Rokubei in 1838 at the age of 18.

Was employed in the Ii family of Hakone, which created Koto ware. Created ceramic six-sided snow-viewing lanterns on the request of Imperial Palace Military Commissioner Okuho Osuminokami and Hasegawa Hizennokami. In the Meiji era, he was active in various fairs and received the bronze medal in the fourth Kyoto Fair in 1875, the silver Phoenix Crest Medal in the first National Industrial Fair in 1877, and the silver medal in the 1878 Nagoya Fair where he exhibited his works. He also exhibited his works at the Paris, Sydney, and Amsterdam World Fairs, making major contributions to popularizing Japanese ceramics around the world.

He also studied ceramics painting under Odakai Sen and did extraordinary work in blue-and-white ceramics as well as ceramics painted with red. He established the individual “Rokubei style” that would be passed down to generations of Rokubeis in perpetuity, and is seen as the ancestor who rejuvenated the Kiyomizu family line.