Dish
1690-1720 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This dish is an example of the type of porcelain made in late 17th to early 18th-century Japan for export to Europe. The areas of dark blue were achieved by painting with cobalt oxide under a clear glaze and firing to a high temperature in a reducing atmosphere - one in which the kiln is starved of oxygen so that the burning fuel draws chemically bonded oxygen from the reactive parts of the ceramic material, leaving them in a reduced state and changing their colour. The gold, red and other enamel colours were applied and fused on in subsequent, low-temperature firings. The distinctive so-called Imari-style colour scheme was much copied by 18th-century European manufacturers. The term Imari comes from the name of the port in western Japan through which this and other products of the nearby Arita kilns were shipped. Porcelains for export were sent to Nagasaki and then shipped abroad by Chinese and Dutch merchants, the Dutch, who were based on the island of Dejima, being the only Europeans permitted to conduct trade in Japan at this time.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Porcelain painted in underglaze blue, overglaze enamels, and gold |
Brief description | Porcelain dish, circular, lavishly decorated with floral motifs, Japan, 1690-1720. |
Physical description | Dish, circular, lavishly decorated with floral motifs including two large stylised chrysanthemums whose petals are filled in with brocaded patterning |
Dimensions |
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Styles | |
Credit line | Bequeathed by W.H. Cope |
Summary | This dish is an example of the type of porcelain made in late 17th to early 18th-century Japan for export to Europe. The areas of dark blue were achieved by painting with cobalt oxide under a clear glaze and firing to a high temperature in a reducing atmosphere - one in which the kiln is starved of oxygen so that the burning fuel draws chemically bonded oxygen from the reactive parts of the ceramic material, leaving them in a reduced state and changing their colour. The gold, red and other enamel colours were applied and fused on in subsequent, low-temperature firings. The distinctive so-called Imari-style colour scheme was much copied by 18th-century European manufacturers. The term Imari comes from the name of the port in western Japan through which this and other products of the nearby Arita kilns were shipped. Porcelains for export were sent to Nagasaki and then shipped abroad by Chinese and Dutch merchants, the Dutch, who were based on the island of Dejima, being the only Europeans permitted to conduct trade in Japan at this time. |
Collection | |
Accession number | 617-1903 |
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Record created | September 6, 2009 |
Record URL |
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