Kakiemon-style porcelain is mainly characterized by the porcelain body of white color or milky-white color and the elegant and bright patterns of the colored overglazes on its white body. The porcelains were first developed and completed by Kakiemon-kiln family in 1650-80's. The red-color overglazes and the transparent glazes of the present porcelain pieces, which were produced in the early 17th century to the middle 18th century, have been investigated by means of X-ray absorption spectrum using synchrotron radiation. The structure of α-Fe2O3 as red-color emission element is slightly deformed in the red-color overglazes by the other surrounding oxides (SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Na2O, MgO, PbO), and/or the new complexes of (SiO2-Al2O3,) systems constructed by the raw materials. The Fe ions in the transparent glazes are in the glass-state with the other oxides. However, the electronic valence, Fe3+, of Fe ions is the same with that of the α-Fe2O3 in the red-color overglazes. The lead oxides (PbO, Pb3O4) used in the Edo period to increase the brightness in the fritted red-color overglazes were perfectly decomposed, and Pb ions were in the glass-state of the porcelains.
Kakiemon-style porcelains; red-overglaze; transparent glaze
