Dish
Category
Ceramics
Date
1700 - 1720
Materials
Porcelain, cobalt, enamel, gold.
Measurements
545 mm (Diameter); 280 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Arita
Collection
Saltram, Devon
NT 870796
Summary
Pair of dishes, porcelain, round with wide flat rims, made in Arita, Hizen Province, Japan, 1700–20, decorated in the Imari palette in underglaze blue and overglaze red and gold with wisteria above a barrier in the centre and around the rim six lobed and pointed cartouches with stylised bird and flower motifs.
Full description
In the early 18th century, the porcelain made at the Arita kilns for export to Europe became increasingly exuberant (Ferguson 2016). The various motifs had specific meanings in the Japanese context, but on export wares they were used more to create dense visual patterns that appealed to European late-baroque taste. In European interiors dishes such as these were used to decorate pier tables and sideboards and possibly during banquets.
Provenance
Given to the National Trust by Montagu Brownlow Parker, 5th Earl of Morley (1878-1962), 1957.
References
Ferguson 2016: Patricia F. Ferguson, Ceramics: 400 Years of British Collecting in 100 Masterpieces, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2016, pp 58-9, 70-1