Japanese Imari Soba Cup c1800
Catalogue:
Antiques:
Regional Art:
Asian:
Japanese:
Porcelain:
Pre 1837 VR item# 2783
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bleu et blanc/Blue & White America, Inc.
Tokyo Time: 011-81-90-1844-8776
more available, $100 each, please inquire
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Dates late 18th to early 19c. See very similar example but slightly different dimensions on p 130 #243, Shibata Collection book 4, dated 1780-1810. No chips or cracks. Many of these types of soba cups were made in the Arita area at the kiln(s) of Hasami which specialized in porcelain wares for everyday use, including bottles for (hair) oil, small food dishes and soba cups. Underglaze natural cobalt was used which was grayer and less expensive than imported cobalt, which was brought from China to Japan about the mid 17th century. While it is popularly believed that soba choko were made for the purpose of holding sauce for soba noodles, they actually predate the commercial production of noodles in Japan (the first shop documented opened in Osaka c1710), and were originally made for use as spice holders, tea cups, and other culinary functions. An excellent article by David Miller on in the 1999 summer issue of Daruma magazine describes the soba cup’s interesting history. Scholars commonly agree that the word “choko” originated form the Korean word “chonchi” or “chunga”, meaning small wine cups or bowls. Soba cups are generally dated in four eras (as is Imari), subdivided from the Edo era Shoki (1616-1720), followed by Chuki (1721-1788), Koki (1789-1867), and last following the Edo era the Meiji era (1868-1912). Miller classifies this type of drawing as the free form type. Its base style (ja-no-me) or eyeball style is typical of soba cups from the Koki era; smaller circles indicating a date later in the era. These cups were not made for export. This design is known as an arrow head design and these cups often appear in Folk Art Museum collections. See p. 73 of Moes' "Mingei: The Brooklyn Museum" for a similar era and style cup.
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