A rare Arita export dish decorated in Kakiemon style with a pair of Hoo birds, (Fenghuang or Pheonixes) amongst rocks and flowers, Peonies and Chrysanthemums. The rim decorated with a Bird and vine pattern arabesque. Identical dishes exist painted in this pattern but enamelled in the classic Kakiemon palette. The “Bird bird and vine” pattern appears on “Kakiemon” export teapots of the same period. The curious blobs arranged in groups of three, represent Stars, Hoshi. The reverse is pl...

A fine Arita sometsuke fish shaped dish carefully modelled in the form of a Carp, koi-gata o-sara dating to the late 17C. See “The Trakatori Collection” Kyushu Museum 2020 for a set of similar dishes there dated 1670-1690’s. This example probably dates from the 1690’s, the Genroku era. Fish shaped dishes were a popular accompaniment of the tea ceremony, Chinese ko sometsuke examples made specifically for the Japanese market date from the early 17th century, Tianqi era. The Koi was...

A fine Arita sometsuke fish shaped dish carefully modelled in the form of a Carp, koi-gata o-sara dating to the late 17C. See “The Trakatori Collection” Kyushu Museum 2020 for a set of similar dishes there dated 1670-1690’s. This example probably dates from the 1690’s, the Genroku era. Fish shaped dishes were a popular accompaniment of the tea ceremony, Chinese ko sometsuke examples made specifically for the Japanese market date from the early 17th century, Tianqi era. The Koi was ...

Ko Imari Arita Koi-gata Fish Shaped Dish Nagazara Genroku 17C A fine Arita sometsuke fish shaped dish carefully modelled in the form of a Carp, koi-gata o-sara dating to the late 17C. See “The Trakatori Collection” Kyushu Museum 2020 for a set of similar dishes there dated 1670-1690’s. This example probably dates from the 1690’s, the Genroku era. Fish shaped dishes were a popular accompaniment of the tea ceremony, Chinese ko sometsuke examples made specifically for the Japanese market ...

An Arita dish decorated entirely with a dense arabesque of trailing bush clover vine and leaf with flowers, lotuses These belong to a class of design called hosoge which ultimately derive from Chinese patterns of the Tang period. This particular form popular from the seventeenth century features Bush Clover, Hagi one of the auspicious akikusa-de, and is known as Hagi Karakusa, where karakusa means Chinese (literally Tang) grasses. This type of design would have required great dexterity and skil...

An Arita dish decorated entirely with a dense arabesque of trailing bush clover vine and leaf with flowers, lotuses. This design belongs to a class of designs called hosoge which ultimately derive from Chinese patterns of the Tang period. This particular form, popular from the seventeenth century, features Bush Clover, Hagi one of the auspicious akikusa-de, and is known as Hagi Karakusa, where karakusa means Chinese (literally Tang) grasses. This type of design would have required great dexteri...

The dish is in “Ko Sometsuke” style. It is decorated entirely in underglaze blue with an Island Scene shrouded in auspicious ruyi form clouds which recedes into the background, three geese Kari occupy the mid ground (a seasonal motif associated with Autumn) and in the foreground Arumi rough waves crash over kaisou, water weeds, and Conches, horagai and Scallops, hotategai. The abalone form, awabigata, was considered especially auspicious, as noshi, dried awabi strips, were formally pres...

The dish is in “Ko Sometsuke” style. It is decorated in underglaze blue with an Island Scene shrouded in auspicious ruyi form clouds which recedes into the background, three geese Kari occupy the mid ground (a seasonal motif associated with Autumn) and in the foreground Arumi rough waves crash over kaisou, water weeds, and Conches, horagai and Scallops, hotategai. The abalone form, awabigata, was considered especially auspicious, as noshi, dried awabi strips, were formally presented with ...

A fine seji, celadon, and sometsuke style dish. In the early eighteenth century it would appear that this style of decoration was the preserve of the Nabeshima kiln. However in the Kyoho era during the Shogunates economy drive this style of porcelain was largely replaced with sometsuke patterns. Presumably, the prohibition on the production of this style of porcelain by the commercial kilns of Arita was relaxed or lifted during this period. The central pattern in underglaze blue is of a Peony...

An unusual dish of mokkogata “melon” form decorated with a central motif of Tojin, Chinese or possibly Korean or Manchu figures in a Temple landscape with Hexagonal panels depicting Chinese boys playing, “karako kigi-zu” set against a ground of tama, pearls, and fronds. The boys are equipped with various items including fans and drumsticks to beat the partially obscured drum or gong. In the foreground there is an odd bird shaped toy, probably a kite. Such subjects tend to be popular ...

A rice bowl and its accompanying cover cum small sauce dish dating from the late 18th century to the early 19th century decorated entirely in enamels with gilding. The exterior of the bowl and cover are decorated with a turquoise green brocade ground which is intended to simulate a Chinese enamelled scrafitto pattern of the period. The design of the whole bowl including the marumon elements is strongly influenced by contemporary Chinese porcelain, although the iconography and style of painting i...

A dish of plain everted form measuring seven suns in diameter and decorated in somenishikide style with a traditional kacho-ga pattern of a pair of Butterflies and a Rock Peony. An auspicious pattern symbolising harmony and prosperity. The reverse decorated with scattered Peony leaf sprigs and the base is plain. The dish dating to circa 1780-1800. The reverse decorated with auspicious stylised Chinese clouds and a four character Fu Ki Cho Sun mark. A single spur mark to the base. The dish meas...

The dish has an unusual square form with indented corners and a raised almost vertical rim which suggests that it was probably intended to be used for the serving of sashimi, sliced raw fish. This type of dish is described in Japanese as a shihou-sumioshi sara. By the late Mid Edo period sashimi had been growing in popularity being prepared by professional chefs, and was served both in aristocratic and in wealthy households and Ryokan. The somewhat surreal landscape contains a pair of Cranes,...

A dish of scalloped rim form of six-sun size decorated with a central motif of a bouquet of Cherry blossom wrapped in the traditional manner for formal presentation with a sheath of washi paper, tsutsumi, shaped into a horn and tied with cord. The rim of the dish decorated with auspicious motifs of gobenka and cho butterflies in the typical Imari three colour palette dating to the Kyoho period circa 1710-40. The reverse decorated with ribbon ties and trailing flowers. The dish is in good cond...

A dish of scalloped rim form of six-sun size decorated with a central motif of a bouquet of Cherry blossom wrapped in the traditional manner for formal presentation with a sheath of washi paper, tsutsumi, shaped into a horn and tied with cord. The rim of the dish decorated with auspicious motifs of gobenka and cho butterflies in the typical Imari three colour palette dating to the Kyoho period circa 1710-40. The reverse decorated with ribbon ties and trailing flowers. The dish is in good cond...

A bowl, hachi, of kiku-gata, moulded Chrysanthemum form, decorated to the interior with low relief kiku-mon, stylised chrysanthemum flower heads. The narrow panels partly painted in underglaze blue with a gilt lozenge diaper pattern inset with swastikas, and brocades inset with various contrasting motifs of kiku-mon, hanabishi-mon, and matsu-mon (a view of the end of a Pine branch). The remaining four double panels with kiku-mons and Peony and Chrysanthemum sprays. The design an auspicious wish ...

A good quality deep bowl on a relatively high foot-ring decorated in a full Imari pallette, sans aubergine enamels, and decorated with a curiously constructed set of three reserves in underglaze blue with a central stylised Chrysanthemum (or possibly a Lotus, or fusion of the two) with assymetric stylised vine like scrolls surrounding a light iron red wash with gilt karakusa vine ground. Between which “naturalistic” seasonal motifs kakitsuba, rabbit eared, Irises, Botan, tree peonies, and Ch...

A nagazara of conventional rectangular form decorated somenishikide style, a combination of underglaze blue, sometsuke, and, nishikide, enamelled decoration. Nishiki literally means brocade. In this case a dense diaper pattern made up of repeating and contrasting cells of Karahana against an iron red ground and five petal flowers, presumably, ume hana, Plum flowers against a striated green ground, usually used to suggest pine needles. Inset within the brocade ground niche shaped reserves with st...