Jar and cover
Category
Ceramics
Date
1665 - 1680
Materials
porcelain, underglaze cobalt blue
Place of origin
Arita
Order this imageCollection
Wallington, Northumberland
NT 581788
Summary
Jar and cover, porcelain, of high-shouldered ovoid shape with domed cover with finial, made in the Arita kilns, Hizen, Japan, 1665-1680; decorated in underglaze cobalt blue the sides with a continuous scene of figures in a lush garden with pine trees and clouds, the neck with a striated band, and the lid with similar rockwork and foliage, with line bands throughout.
Full description
This is an early Japanese porcelain jar, which probably copies a Delft (tin-glazed earthenware) prototype sent to Arita to be copied in porcelain. When Chinese porcelain ceased to be exported around 1657, and had dropped off in the preceding years, the Dutch East India company agents began to order Chinese-style objects from Japan. As the results were successful they became more enterprising, and sent out objects made in wood or ceramic for the Japanese to imitate, as here.
Provenance
Gift from Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan 3rd Bt