Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Cup and Saucer

1875 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The glassy quality of the glaze and the vibrant hue of the blue found on this cup and saucer are typical of late nineteenth-century porcelains from Mino, which is located to the northeast of Nagoya in central Japan. Kato Gosuke was a renowned painter of birds and flowers who went on to win several awards at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle. The cup and saucer were part of a group of over 200 ceramics bought on behalf of the V&A by the Japanese Exposition commissioners with funds provided by Philip Cunliffe-Owen, an ardent Japanophile who was director of the V&A from 1874 to 1893. The instructions sent to the commissioners were that they should ‘make an historical collection of porcelain and pottery from the earliest period until the present time, to be formed in such a way as to give fully the history of the art.’


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Cup
  • Saucer
Materials and techniques
Porcelain decorated in underglaze blue
Brief description
Cup and saucer, porcelain with moulded relief design and decoration in underglaze blue; made in the province of Mino by Kato Gosuke, Japan, Meiji period, ca. 1875
Physical description
Painted with summer flowers.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(On base)
Translation
Made by Kato Gosuke of the Province of Mino, Japann
Gallery label
CUP AND SAUCER Porcelain with clear glaze and decoration in underglaze cobalt blue Mark Nihon Mino (no) Kuni Kato Gosuke sei in underglaze blue on base Mino ware, by Kato Gosuke IV (active c.1863-1898) JAPANESE; c.1875 185-1877(As at 2005)
Object history
Purchased from the Japanese Commissioners for the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, accessioned in 1877. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
Subject depicted
Association
Summary
The glassy quality of the glaze and the vibrant hue of the blue found on this cup and saucer are typical of late nineteenth-century porcelains from Mino, which is located to the northeast of Nagoya in central Japan. Kato Gosuke was a renowned painter of birds and flowers who went on to win several awards at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle. The cup and saucer were part of a group of over 200 ceramics bought on behalf of the V&A by the Japanese Exposition commissioners with funds provided by Philip Cunliffe-Owen, an ardent Japanophile who was director of the V&A from 1874 to 1893. The instructions sent to the commissioners were that they should ‘make an historical collection of porcelain and pottery from the earliest period until the present time, to be formed in such a way as to give fully the history of the art.’
Bibliographic reference
Augustus Wollaston Franks and M. Shioda, Japanese Pottery. [London]: Chapman & Hall Ltd., 1880. South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks; 18. Catalogue number 26
Collection
Accession number
185&A-1877

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Record createdOctober 30, 2008
Record URL
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