Dish, one of a pair, porcelain painted in underglaze blue; Japan, Arita, Meiji period, 1875

Dish, one of a pair with 688-1878. Porcelain, round, the inside painted in underglaze blue with rocks and frogs and various flowering plants, and the outside with an inscription in Japanese characters: 'made by Kajiwara Rikichi of the Koransha Company, Arita, Japan in the eighth year of Meiji [=1875].

Purchased from the Paris Exhibition, 1878, accessioned in 1878. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
This dish together with 688-1878 were bought by the Museum directly from the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, where the Koransha company were awarded a gold medal for their ceramics. It is interesting to note that the Kogei Shiryo, published in the same year as the Paris Exhibition, mentions that of the 15 labourers employed by the ceramic factories of Arita, as many as 45 worked for Koransha, making it one of the largest ceramic producers in Japan at that time.

Made by Kajiwara Rikichi of the Koransha Company.

688A-1878