Figure
Category
Ceramics
Date
1690 - 1720
Materials
Porcelain, cobalt, enamel.
Measurements
320 x 90 mm
Place of origin
Arita
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 870808
Summary
Pair of figures of courtesans (bijin 美人 or ‘beauties’), porcelain, depicted walking, holding round lacquered bamboo travelling hats in front of them, made in Arita, Hizen Province, Japan, 1690–1720, decorated in the Imari palette in underglaze blue and overglaze black, red and green enamels.
Full description
Porcelain figures made in Arita were in demand in Europe during the second half of the 17th century and the early 18th century, serving as one of the sources of inspiration for European orientalist depictions of East-Asians (Ayers, Impey and Mallet 1990).
Provenance
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Trust, 1957.
References
Ayers, Impey and Mallet 1990: John Ayers, Oliver Impey and J.V.G. Mallet, Porcelain for Palaces: The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650–1750, London, 1990., pp. 175-6