The History of Nerikomi: A Technique Across Cultures and Time

nadineblakemore
Jun 4
3 min read

When people hear the word nerikomi, they often think of a distinctly Japanese technique. But the real story of coloured clay is far older, far wider, and far more fascinating. It’s a technique that has travelled across continents, cultures, and centuries. It changed shape as it moved, yet always rooted in the same simple idea: pattern created from the clay itself. So here is a little bit of history on where this technique comes from:

Middle Eastern Beginnings

The story of coloured clay begins not in Japan, but much earlier in the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The very first experiments weren’t even with clay, but with coloured glass, where makers layered and fused different hues to create patterned rods and blocks. These early glassworkers discovered that colour could be built into a material, not just applied to the surface.

Potters in the same regions soon began exploring similar ideas in clay. In what is now Iran and Iraq, makers were already experimenting with:

coloured clays
laminated blocks
inlaid patterns
marbled bodies

These early innovations laid the foundation for everything that followed and more than a thousand years before Japan developed its own version of the technique.

Travelling the Silk Road

As trade routes expanded, so did the movement of ideas. The technique travelled east along the Silk Road, carried by merchants, craftspeople, and the natural exchange of knowledge that happens wherever cultures meet.

By the time coloured‑clay methods reached China, they had already begun to evolve. Chinese potters developed:

marbled stoneware and porcelain
layered clay bodies
inlaid slip decoration, including early forms of what we now call Mishima

These weren’t identical to the Middle Eastern methods, but they shared the same spirit: pattern created through the clay itself, not applied on top.

Korean Refinement

In Korea, especially during the Goryeo and Joseon periods, potters took these ideas even further. They became masters of inlay and layered clays, creating work that was both technically refined and visually subtle. Their approach added another chapter to the story — one that still influences ceramic artists today.

England in the 16th–17th Century

Coloured‑clay techniques reached England in the 16th and 17th centuries, where they quickly became popular. English potters developed their own versions, known as:

agateware
marbled ware
pebble ware

By the 18th century, Staffordshire potteries were producing marbled and agateware on a large scale. You can find a large collection of items in the V&A in London and I personally found out a lot about nerikomi in Bambourgh Castle which as a surprisingly large collection of nerikomiu pieces. So you cna see, that whilst Japan is often credited with the technique, England has its own long and rich history with patterned clay too.

The 20th‑Century Japanese Revival to Nerikomi

The modern story of nerikomi, the one most people know, begins in 20th‑century Japan. Japanese studio potters revived and reinterpreted the technique, giving it:

the name nerikomi for handbuilt patterned clay
the name neriage for wheel‑thrown patterned clay
a clean, graphic, contemporary aesthetic
a strong association with porcelain

This revival is what Western potters encountered in the 1970s–1990s, and it’s why the technique became popularly known as “Japanese”. The Japanese interpretation is beautiful, distinctive, and influential, and its the latest chapter in a much longer story.

In my next post, I will explain a bit why this technique fascinates me so much and how I started with it. But meanwhile, here are 3 of my favorite pieces that I have made: