The Mystery of Moriage

Not wanting to hijack @Gianluca72 's thread any further (Help Id and date an old big oriental vase, signed), I am starting this new thread. At the risk of appearing to beat a dead horse, I am driven to follow up on the discussion of what, exactly, the term "moriage" means. It was my understanding that the term referred to a technique of creating raised decoration on Japanese ceramics, which could subsequently be decorated with enamels or gilding (or not). @clutteredcloset49 felt that the term was limited to unglazed, matte raised clay slip, and that raised elements making use of enamels are something different.

So I wanted to try to figure out what the Japanese meant by the term, as it is their technique. The literal meaning of the term in Japanese is "to pile up, to heap up", which makes sense. But it makes no reference one way or the other to the presence or absence of further layers of decoration. Today I found an article by John G. Henley, "The Mystery of I.E. & C. Co. Japan Hand-Painted Porcelain": http://www.noritakecollectorsguild.info/researchers/johnhenley/IEC.pdf
In this he cites an article by Tsuneko Wakabayashi: “Techniques and Glossary for Old Noritake”, which is included in the book “Masterpieces of Old Noritake” Edited by Yumiko Oga and Tsuneko Wakabayashi. Translated by Aki Oga Kato and Judith Boyd. Heibonsha, April 2001. pgs 163-167”. Describing some of the more significant techniques used by Noritake, Henley reproduces the following from the Glossary:

1. Moriage – a technique used to make ceramics three-dimensional, including convex raised, icchin raised, brush raised, Wedgwood (techniques of Jasperware) and so on and usually combined with other techniques. The characteristic moriage is extremely elaborate and delicate and may be combined with gold, coloured paint or jewels that created a colourful, artistic decoration.
2. Icchin Moriage – Icchin is the name of the tool used to draw moriage. White or coloured mud clay paint (made with water and clay) is put in the icchin and then squeezed out the beak to create decorative lines, faces and dots, much like the process of decorating a cake.
3. Gold Raised Work – After the first firing of a painted piece, the icchin is used to draw dots, dotted lines or pictures with the mud clay. It is fired again and the moriage is covered by painting it with liquid gold giving a raised gold look.
4. Gold Beading, Aqua Beading – After the first firing, moriage is used to decorate in small dots and must be done carefully and precisely. Gold beading is just gold painted on top of the beads. Water colour beading is called “aqua beading” because it looks like bubbles of water.
5. Raised Enamel (Jewels) – is a technique used to enhance a gold finish whereby drops of shining enamel are put on top of a gold colour or gold overlay to make it even more luxurious. A mixture of enamels and chemicals is dissolved and applied with a hypodermic-like tool resulting in a jeweled effect.

These definitions indicate that moriage is the basic technique of creating raised decorations using clay slip, and was usually combined with additional decorative techniques, including the use of enamels on top of the raised designs.

Clearly, it is appropriate to describe matte, undecorated raised slip as moriage. But is it appropriate to exclude raised designs created with moriage and subsequently glazed, painted or gilded? It seems the raised character of the decoration is the essential feature of moriage, whether or not it is further enhanced. Moriage is the substrate, like wood. If the wood is painted, it is still wood.

@gregsglass @patd8643