Kataro Shirayamadani (1865-1948) – Rookwood Artist
In 1887 Rookwood hired Japanese artist Kataro Shirayamadani after several unsuccessful attempts to retain a Japanese decorator. In May of that year Shirayamadani arrived from Boston, where he had been employed by Fujiyama, an import retail and decorating shop. Born in 1865 in Tokyo, Shirayamadani was a skilled porcelain painter whose talent proved most useful to Rookwood.
Shirayamadani had been in Cincinnati in 1886 as a member of the traveling Japanese Village which appeared at the Thirteenth Cincinnati Industrial Exposition and which caused a sensation. Examples of his decorations at Rookwood were first shown at the Piedmont Exposition in Atlanta in October 1887. With the exception of an extended absence in Japan from 1911 to 1921, Shirayamadani worked at Rookwood until his death in 1948. He signed his work with KS or a stylized japanese script.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions October 2006