Fine Large Porcelain Plate by Kakiemon Sakaida XII

This superb Japanese porcelain dish, hand painted in underglaze blue and bright overglaze polychrome enamels, is the work of Kakiemon Sakaida XII (1878-1963). The highly refined milky white glazed body is decorated in the traditional Kakiemon palette of red, blue, green and yellow with a design of a butterfly hovering above chrysanthemums issuing from a rocky outcropping near a brushwood fence. There is a great restraint in the sparse offset decoration which creates a wonderfully balanced composition. The underglaze blue signature of Kakiemon Sakaida appears on the back, which is completely undecorated.

The Japanese potter Kakiemon Sakaida (1596-1666) is popularly credited with being one of the first potters in Japan to discover the secret of enamel decoration on porcelain in the 17th century. He developed the distinctive palette of soft red, yellow, blue and turquoise green overglaze enamels on a fine milky white body. The word “Kakiemon” is sometimes used as a generic term describing wares made in the Arita factories using the characteristic Kakiemon enamels and decorative styles. However, authentic Kakiemon porcelains have been produced only by direct descendants of the family, now in its fourteenth generation.

Kakiemon decoration is always of the highest quality, delicate and with asymmetric well-balanced designs. These were sparsely applied to emphasize the fine white porcelain background body known in Japan as “nigoshide” (milky white) which was used for the finest pieces. Because manufacture of nigoshide is difficult due to hard contraction of the porcelain body during firing, its production was discontinued from the 18th century until the mid-20th century, when Kakiemon XII and his son Kakiemon XIII joined forces and finally succeeded in recreating it in 1953. Kakiemon XII was designated an Intangible Cultural Asset at that time, and his works are widely sought by collectors.

CONDITION is perfect. DIMENSIONS: 10” (25.5 cm) diameter, 1 ¼” (3.3 cm) high.

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