What is "satsuma ware"

Satsuma ware \Sat"su*ma ware"\ (? or ?). (Fine Arts) A kind of ornamental hard-glazed pottery made at Satsuma in Kiushu, one of the Japanese islands.

is a style of Japanese earthenware originally from the Satsuma region of what is today southern Kyūshū. Today, it can be divided into two distinct categories: the original plain dark clay made in Satsuma from around 1600, and the elaborately decorated ivory-bodied pieces which began to be produced in the nineteenth century in various Japanese cities. By adapting their gilded polychromatic enamel overglaze designs to appeal to the tastes of western consumers, manufacturers of the latter made Satsuma ware one of the most recognized and profitable export products of the Meiji period.