Catalog (189)

AN OLD JAPANESE PAINTING OF MONJU BOSATSU.

Monju Bosatsu - Manjushri Bodhisattva of Wisdom. The painting appears to have great age and even though not in the best of condition it still has a compelling presence. It is painted on a composite sheet of thin paper, the joins can be seen as angled lines across the sheet and mounted as a kakemono. The painting is signed with a single seal impression in gold.

The painted area is approximately 106cm by 40.5cm. The painting has ho...

A JAPANESE EXPORT DISH, LATE 17TH CENTURY.

This fine dish is decorated with designs taken from Ming Chinese Wanli 'Kraak' wares and came about as a result of a disruption of Chinese production during a period of unrest. Dutch traders who found their Chinese trade stopped resorted to ordering from Japanese makers. The Japanese versions of these Kraak style pieces are usually thicker than the very thin Chinese Kraak wares and this has ensured their survival in often pristine condition. Thi...

The Chinese porcelain dish has a border of two repeating elements, a garlanded ruyi and three interlinked rings. The centre of the dish depicts a Chinese landscape with two scholars approaching a solitary angler. The dish was made for the Japanese where such pieces were used and much appreciated in the tea ceremony, at a time when the Japanese porcelain industry was in its infancy.

Approximately 15.5 cm diameter. No cracks or restoration, just some inevitable mushikui, “worm eaten edg...

An Early Japanese Bronze Mirror, Kagami, Circa 1600. (No.1) This bronze mirror (kagami) was almost certainly made in the Momoyama period. It has a turtle (minogame) as a central boss, pierced for a cord. It also features a pair of cranes, their beaks touching the head of the turtle as in the act of kissing. This beneath a splendid pine tree. Under the turtle is found the inscription 'Tenjō' (?) possibly meaning Heaven.

Approximately 10.4cm diameter. Many signs of wear and polishi...

A Chinese “Master of the Rocks” Saucer Dish, Kangxi, late 17th century. Typically, the decoration relies heavily on the techniques of contemporary ink painters with attention to naturalistic detail and various wet brush effects. The border of waterweed-like fronds appears on many such Master of the Rocks ceramics. The back is entirely plain.

Approximately 13.8cm diameter. There is one very shallow chip on the rim, noted in the photographs, otherwise perfect.

Please ...

Fine Japanese Arita Imari Wucai Dish c.1700. # 1 An attractively decorated dish styled after late Ming wucai enamelled wares, noted for their bold and vivid colouring. A meandering vine with various flowers surround a central kotobuki or good luck character. The back is decorated with various lingzhi motifs and within the foot-rim is a apocryphal Chinese Ming reign mark for Jiajing.

For a similar dish see pp 282-3 No 157 of the complete catalogue of the Kurita Museum where it is des...

Fine Japanese Arita Imari Wucai Dish c.1700. # 2 An attractively decorated dish styled after late Ming wucai enamelled wares, noted for their bold and vivid colouring. A meandering vine with various flowers surround a central kotobuki or good luck character. The back is decorated with various lingzhi motifs and within the foot-rim is a apocryphal Chinese Ming reign mark for Jiajing.

For a similar dish see pp 282-3 No 157 of the complete catalogue of the Kurita Museum where it is des...

A large Japanese export porcelain charger decorated with a design based upon a Ming Chinese ‘Kraak’ porcelain dish. Arita, 1680.

For a similar but smaller plate see item 12 in the Impey Collection. ‘Ko-Imari Porcelain from the Collection of Oliver Impey’, Barry Davies Oriental Art, 1997.

Approximately 28.2cm diameter. Perfect condition.

Please study the photographs.

Within the UK payment by bank transfer is preferred.

Customers residen...

An Arita porcelain plate (#2) decorated with a leaping carp within a moulded border based upon Chinese Ming export porcelain, ‘Kraak’ style. The dishes have faux chattering in imitation of Wanli Kraak dishes.

Arita, 1750 - 1780.

Approximately 21.5cm diameter. Perfect condition.

Please study the photographs.

Within the UK payment by bank transfer is preferred.

Customers resident in China must make arrangements to pay by International Bank Transfer in G...

A Japanese Arita Export porcelain spoon tray after a design by Frederik Van Frytom. Within the foot-rim is found an eccentrically written apocryphal Chinese reign mark, a feature seemingly of most wares the with Van Frytom designs. The shape is taken from an European silver dish and the porcelain clearly intended to be exported to the West.

A spoon tray of this design was included in a Christie’s auction in 2009.

Approximately 13.2 cm long.

Please study th...

A Japanese Export heart-shaped dish with an European harbour scene by Frederik Van Frytom. Arita 1680 ~ 1700. Frederik Van Frytom was a notable painter in 17th century Holland who was commissioned to produce Delft pottery samples for copying at Arita. This dish is a copy of one of a special set of five Delft dishes that were taken to Japan in 1684 and used in the tea ceremony. The moulded shape of the dish is reminiscent of silver tableware. Within the foot-rim is found an eccentrically written ...

A Japanese porcelain plate decorated with a dignitary beneath a parasol, attended by his servant, in a garden. The cavetto is unusually decorated with a continuous landscape, a device not often encountered on Arita porcelain. The use of linear shading is reminiscent of Chinese “Master of the Rocks” style. The back is entirely plain with four spur marks within the foot-rim. Arita, circa 1680~1700.

Approximately 21 cm diameter. Perfect condition with only a tiny piece of kiln dus...

A Chinese Shiwan stoneware fanghu vase with a jun glaze, late Ming/early Qing dynasty. The hollow tube handles associate this type of vase with the arrow game pastime but this example, given the small diameters involved would be unsuitable. The glaze is a transmutation glaze and its colour is decided by the kiln conditions at the peak temperature.

Shiwan (Shekwan) ceramics are from southern China, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

Approximately 21.7cm high. Weight is 935 gm. Ro...

A fine and large Arita export octagonal jar, 1680 ~ 1700. The jar has similar painting around the neck and shoulder as those produced at the Kakiemon kilns.

Approximately 40 cm high. In fine undamaged condition. I have shown some very shallow flakes on the inside of the neck, this appears to have occurred before the firing.

Please study the photographs.

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Customers resident in China must make arrangements...

A fine gourd-shaped bottle decorated in Chinese Transitional style. Arita 1660 – 1680.

The bottle is decorated in late Ming style with the enjoyment of nature. These bottles are not uncommon but are seldom encountered with such fine painting.

The Catalogue of the Shibata Collection exhibits two similar bottles.

Approximately 20.4 cm high. The bottle is in perfect condition with only a couple of small areas of glaze evacuation on the neck, noted in the photographs. ...

An Early Arita “Snowflake” plate. Circa 1680. The thickly potted porcelain dish decorated with snowflakes and flowering prunus. The back with a lozenge mark.

Provenance: R&G McPherson Antiques, London W8.

Approximately 18.7 cm diameter. A tiny piece of kiln dross on the front, otherwise perfect.

Please study the photographs.

Within the UK payment by bank transfer is preferred.

Customers resident in China must make arrangements to pay by Int...

An early Arita porcelain dish, Kakiemon, 17th Century, circa 1655~1670.

The centre of the dish with a table display of bonsai-like foliage. The curved cavetto with plant-filled lozenges against a blue ground.

The mark within the foot-rim was used at the Chokichidani kiln and the Old Kakiemon kiln in the period 1655 ~ 1670’s.

Dishes with similar designs are to found in the catalogue of the Shibata Collection, Kyushu Ceramic Museum.

Approximately 21...

A fine Arita Export gourd-shaped bottle decorated in Chinese Transitional taste. Arita 1660 – 1680.

The enjoyment of nature.

The Catalogue of the Shibata Collection exhibits two similar bottles.

Another, a 39.8 cm tall example is illustrated in ‘Fine & Curious Japanese Export Porcelains in Dutch Collections’. Hotei Pub. 2003. In this the author, Professor Jorg, informs us that although large gourd vases are relatively common, smaller examples are much more rare. ...