Bowl thumbnail 1
Bowl thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Bowl

1729-31 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This porcelain bowl strongly resembles the Japanese wares imported to Europe in the early 18th century for rich aristocratic collectors to use and display in their homes. Augustus the Strong, the owner of the Meissen porcelain factory, is known to have loaned the factory pieces from his own collection of precious Far Eastern porcelains in order to copy their shapes and designs. The shape as well as the precise and colourful Japanese decoration, known as 'Kakiemon', has been faithfully copied here by the skilled craftsmen at Meissen.

This piece bears the special mark of the Saxon king's own collection housed in his 'Japanese Palace' in Dresden. This residence was so large that the Augustus's Chinese and Japanese porcelain collection was not large enough to fill it and Meissen pieces decorated in similar styles were used there to fill in any gaps in the displays.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Hard-paste porcelain, moulded, painted in enamels
Brief description
Hard-paste porcelain bowl, of moulded five lobe shape, painted in enamels with a Japanese style design, made by the Meissen porcelain factory, Germany, 1729-31
Physical description
Hard-paste porcelain bowl, of moulded five lobe shape, painted in enamels with a Japanese 'Kakiemon' design, the interior with flowering plants and rocks, the exterior with an extended flowering chysanthemum spray. Brown edge.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.9cm
  • Diameter: 24.5cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Crossed swords with pommels and curved guards (Factory mark, in blue enamel)
  • 'N=445/W' (Inventory mark of the Dresden Palace Collection, incised and infilled in black (the first two digits recut over '25'. Another [presumably engraved] mark has been ground off))
Credit line
Given by H. M. Queen Victoria
Object history
Given by H.M. Queen Victoria in 1860. Formerly Royal Saxon Collection, Dresden.
Production
Attribution from the manuscript catalogue dates from about 1970 and was compiled by William Hutton of the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This porcelain bowl strongly resembles the Japanese wares imported to Europe in the early 18th century for rich aristocratic collectors to use and display in their homes. Augustus the Strong, the owner of the Meissen porcelain factory, is known to have loaned the factory pieces from his own collection of precious Far Eastern porcelains in order to copy their shapes and designs. The shape as well as the precise and colourful Japanese decoration, known as 'Kakiemon', has been faithfully copied here by the skilled craftsmen at Meissen.

This piece bears the special mark of the Saxon king's own collection housed in his 'Japanese Palace' in Dresden. This residence was so large that the Augustus's Chinese and Japanese porcelain collection was not large enough to fill it and Meissen pieces decorated in similar styles were used there to fill in any gaps in the displays.
Bibliographic reference
Ayers, John and Impey, Oliver and Mallet, John. Porcelain for Palaces, The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750, with essays by Anthony du Boulay and Lawrence Smith. Catalogue of an exhibition at the British Museum, 1990. London: Oriental Ceramics Society, 1990, no. 184, 193 p.
Collection
Accession number
7327-1860

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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