ABSTRACT
In the early 1870s, two services of ceramic tableware were produced for use at the Enryōkan, a naval facility turned state guesthouse and reception venue in the grounds of the Hama Imperial Villa, Tokyo. In 1869, this building accommodated the Meiji administration’s first royal visitor from overseas; each November it hosted a banquet for the diplomatic corps in celebration of the emperor’s birthday. Made by potters in Arita and Kyoto, surviving pieces from each service are marked on their base as “equipment of the Enryōkan.” Long divorced from their original context, the uncommon specificity of these marks has allowed these ceramics to be connected to a particular table and so audience. Operating as both visual and material culture within the shared space of the banquet, the services of tableware made for the Enryōkan were designed to be seen and to be used at a critical moment in Japan’s history. As objects placed in the hands of state guests, overseas representatives and Japanese elites, these ceramics mediated consumption of Japan while also facilitating reciprocal performances of hospitality.
