Dish with molded decoration and Chinese poem

Dish with fluted rim; five spur marks on base.
Clay: white porcelain.
Glaze: transparent, slightly bluish.
Decoration: a Chinese scene of two figures in a garden by a house, in moulded relief under the glaze. Inscriptions, rim decoration, and fuku mark on base in underglaze blue.

Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1770-1800
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under clear, bluish glaze
Style
Arita ware
Dimensions
H x W: 5.4 x 31.5 cm (2 1/8 x 12 3/8 in)
Geography
Japan, Saga prefecture, Arita, Nangawara, Higuchi or Kamanotsuji kiln
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1962.23a-d
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish

Keywords
Arita ware, Kakiemon type, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, poems, porcelain
Provenance

To 1962
N.V. Hammer, Inc., New York. [1]

From 1962
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from N.V. Hammer, Inc., New York. [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

N.V. Hammer, Inc.

Description

Dish with fluted rim; five spur marks on base.
Clay: white porcelain.
Glaze: transparent, slightly bluish.
Decoration: a Chinese scene of two figures in a garden by a house, in moulded relief under the glaze. Inscriptions, rim decoration, and fuku mark on base in underglaze blue.

Inscription(s)

1. [Folder sheet entry #2] (LACort, 1983). The four-line poem inscribed on the plate was indentified by Fu Shen as being "Spring Dawn" by the T'ang dynasty poet Meng Hao-jan (689-740):

{Spring Dawn} [Chn]
Sleeping in spring, unaware of the dawn [Chn]
Then everywhere I hear birds singing. [Chn]
Last night, the sound of wind and the rain -- [Chn]
Flowers have fallen, I wonder how many. [Chn]

Published References
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 180.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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