Dish

Dish, low with curving sides, wide base, low foot sloping inward. Six spur-marks on base.
Clay: white, resonant porcelain, oxidized orange where exposed along edge of glaze.
Glaze: fine, clear, feldspathic; slight orange-skin texture; bluish-green aqua tint where it has collected in thickness just below mouth-rim on outside, and inside angle of foot-rim. Bearing edge of foot-rim unglazed; a few inclusion imperfections on inside.
Decoration: painted in underglaze cobalt blue of deep tone and good quality in outline and wash. Inside: deep cavetto border within single lines, “three friends” design (prunus, bamboo and pine) with rocks and two kinds of plants; below this is a narrow border of conventionalized waves; a central medallion is a formal wreath composed of flower and leaf motifs alternating three times. The painting is careful and detailed in execution, although the design is bold. Outside: a typical “Imari” style scroll encircles the sides; below it a single line and a double line on outside of foot. A single line circle on base is about 1 cm. in from foot.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1730-1770
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under clear colorless glaze
Style
Arita ware
Dimensions
H x W: 5.4 x 30.7 cm (2 1/8 x 12 1/16 in)
Geography
Japan, Saga prefecture, Arita
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1975.8
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish

Keywords
Arita ware, bamboo, cobalt pigment, Edo period (1615 - 1868), flower, Japan, pine tree, porcelain, reign mark
Provenance

To 1974
Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [1]

From 1974
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [2]

Notes:

[1] Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Oriental Art, Benjamin J. Stein

Description

Dish, low with curving sides, wide base, low foot sloping inward. Six spur-marks on base.
Clay: white, resonant porcelain, oxidized orange where exposed along edge of glaze.
Glaze: fine, clear, feldspathic; slight orange-skin texture; bluish-green aqua tint where it has collected in thickness just below mouth-rim on outside, and inside angle of foot-rim. Bearing edge of foot-rim unglazed; a few inclusion imperfections on inside.
Decoration: painted in underglaze cobalt blue of deep tone and good quality in outline and wash. Inside: deep cavetto border within single lines, "three friends" design (prunus, bamboo and pine) with rocks and two kinds of plants; below this is a narrow border of conventionalized waves; a central medallion is a formal wreath composed of flower and leaf motifs alternating three times. The painting is careful and detailed in execution, although the design is bold. Outside: a typical "Imari" style scroll encircles the sides; below it a single line and a double line on outside of foot. A single line circle on base is about 1 cm. in from foot.

Marking(s)

Mark: in underglaze blue on base in Chinese characters Ta Ming Ch'eng-hua nien chih, a copy of Chinese Ming reign mark of Ch'eng-hua period.

Label

Distinctively Chinese motifs appear on this carefully painted dish.  The "Three Friends"--pine, plum, and bamboo--appear in a landscape setting around the cavetto; a band of waves frames the center of the dish containing a symmetrically organized garland of poppy flowers and leaves.  On the base is a six-character copy of a Chinese Ming dynasty reign mark of the Ch'eng-hua era (1465-1487).

Published References
  • Julia Murray. A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980. Exh. cat. Washington, 1979. cat. 69, p. 90.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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