Baraset House is proud to host our Annual Autumn Japanese Porcelain Sale from September 23 - October 18.
All quoted prices on our Autumn 2024 price list will be discounted during our Annual Sale as follows:
Any single item will be reduced by an additional 15%
Any two items will each be reduced by an additional 20%
Any three items or more will each be reduced by an additional 25%
On top of this, courier shipping will be free during our Annual Sale
Please contact us at info@barasethouse.com to receive our Autumn Price List.
Japanese Porcelain
Baraset House offers a superb collection of Japanese porcelain produced in Arita during the Golden Age of early enamelled porcelain. The brilliant milky-white porcelain produced on Kyushu Island was known as 'White Gold' to European nobility and aristocrats - after the closure of the majority of kilns at Jingdezhen due to the dynasty change from Ming to Qing in the mid-17th century, the Dutch East India Company turned to Japan to fill its large orders of porcelain being shipped to the ruling houses of Europe.
The European obsession with Chinese & Japanese porcelain during the 17th and 18th centuries cannot be overstated - countless royals and nobles of Western Europe suffered a maladie de porcelaine; the most fanatical being King Augustus The Strong of Saxony who was famously known for trading an entire regiment of his Saxon Dragoon Guards for a group of the coveted porcelain pieces.
By the fall of the Chinese Ming dynasty in 1644, a system of stylized overglaze enamelling on milk-white porcelain began developing in Arita which has been credited to the Kakiemon family - these pieces created a sensation when they began to appear in Europe in the mid to late seventeenth century.
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Early Enamelled Figures, Kakiemon, Arita, circa 1665
A very early and rare pair of 17th century Kakiemon figures of bijin (Japanese courtesans) wearing uchikake (outer garment) enamelled in the Kakiemon style with kichō panels (Curtains of State) and sylized falling leaves
Arita, Kakiemon style, Hizen province, Japan
Early Edo period, Kanbun Era (1661-1673)
c1660-70
14.5 cm high x 6 cm wide across the base
Provenance:
Christie’s (London) ‘Japanese Works of Art’, 6 & 7 March 1989, lot 321 "A pair of Kakiemon models of bijin" (see final two images for Christie's auction catalogue and lot 321 coloured illustration of the present pair of Kakiemon bijin figures).
Possibly two of the “310 small statuettes” shipped to Holland in 1665 aboard the Nieuwenhoven out of the cargo of the Amerongen from Japan to Batavia.
Literature:
See Christie's (London) "Japanese Works of Art" 7 & 8 March 1989, lot 321, for the present pair with colour illustration.
For an almost identical pair, see Oliver Impey & Christian Jorg "Dragons, Tigers and Bamboo: Japanese Porcelain and Its Impact in Europe; The MacDonald Collection" (The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, 2009), for an almost identical pair of bijin, museum number G05.12.25.1 and G05.12.25.2.
The standing courtesans are modelled wearing the uchikake robe (formal outer garment with no sash) over several luxuriant layers of najajuban (underkimonos) which are decorated in the very early Kakiemon palette of iron-red, green, blue and black enamels.
The large and flowing uchikake robe with draped sleeves is sparingly decorated with stylized maple leaves and rectangular panels known as kichō panels (Curtains of State), which depict room dividers that were used to shield court ladies from the eyes of men. In notable contrast to these privacy panels depicted on the back of their robes, the bijin are modelled coquettishly lifting the front of their outer garments to reveal the kosode (inner kimono) underneath, and to give the viewer a tantalizing glimpse of their delicate feet.
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Ai-Kakiemon Dish, Arita kiln, circa 1670-80
An extremely fine Ai-Kakiemon dish superbly and fluidly painted with falling snowflakes & winding mountain stream design
Ai-Kakiemon type, Arita ware, Hizen province, Japan
Edo Period (mid-17th century), Enpō period
circa 1670-80
Measuring 8 inches in diameter (21.5 cm); 0.85 inches in height (2.2 cm)
The very finely potted porcelain body of shallow circular form was produced during the pinnacle of the Prime Period of porcelain production in Arita. An outstanding example.
An identical dish titled as "The Snow Flakes over Stream Design Medium Plate" is illustrated in Kazuo Seki's Beauty of Prime Period Imari: selected works of under-glazed blue porcelain (Tokyo 1990), catalogue number 121, p.49 and p.87.
An identical dish is in the Collection of The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Toronto); Macdonald Collection of Japanese Porcelain (Toronto), museum number G20.9.5.
Condition report:
In very fine original condition with one tiny kintsugi repair to the rim edge at 12 o'clock.
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Ko-Kutani ruri ginsai type, Arita kiln, circa 1655-60
An extremely rare and important Ko-Kutani suiteki water dropper in the form of an eggplant (aubergine), the surface covered in a rich lapis lazuli ruri glaze and enamelled with a landscape and pavillion scene in red enamel, gold and silver ginsai decoration
Ko-Kutani ruri ginsai type, Arita ware, Hizen province, Japan
Edo Period (mid-17th century), Meireki-Manji period
circa 1655-60
Measuring 7.5 cm in height by 7.5 cm in length
Of extraordinarily finely modelled naturalistic form, the substantially potted bulbous body in the form of an eggplant, covered with an extremely pleasing ruri blue ground (lapis lazuli) glaze, the body enamelled with gold, silver and red decoration depicting a hut on an rocky embankment surrounded by pine trees, the naturalistically moulded leaves of the eggplant picked out with gold and red enamel, the stem of the eggplant opening to an upwards-pointing mouth with a small pierced airhole nearby among the leaves. The base unglazed.
The form is likely derived from Chinese examples of the Ming dynasty, such as the eggplant water-dropper in The British Museum PDF B694 described as "Porcelain water-dropper in form of an aubergine with stem-shaped spout with relief leaves....Naturalistic details painted on the leaves and stem. Ming Dynasty circa 1590-1610".
In 1659, Zacharias Wagenaer, Principal of the Dutch East India Company in Japan, sent a small shipment back to the VOC Directors in Amsterdam comprising an assortment of Japanese porcelain of his own choosing. He wrote in his report of 10th December 1659: "....I had contracted with a certain person for about 200 pieces after my own invention, to be made curiously on a blue ground with small silver and gold tendrilwork" (T. Volker 1954, p.136). These blue ground pieces called ruri Kutani were among the earliest Japanese porcelains shipped to Europe, according to Dr. Oliver Impey. The striking early blue ground Arita wares are extraordinarily rare but examples do exist in the British Museum, the Groningen Museum, and Hampton Court (London, UK). No other known comparable Ko-Kutani examples of this eggplant calligraphy water dropper form have been found.
Condition report:
In perfect original condition with virtually no wear to the enamelling.
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Pair of Cockerel Groups, Arita kiln, circa 1700
A rare pair of late 17th/early 18th century Arita porcelain models of Cockerel, Hen & Chick on a tree stump
Arita, figural Kakiemon type, Hizen province, Japan
Edo period (late 17th century/early 18th century)
circa 1700
The porcelain models measuring 14.5cm high (5-3/4 inches).
In superb original condition.
Each modelled with a large bushy tailed Bantam rooster with finely moulded feathers, picked out in black, green, red, aubergine and gilt enamels, a small hen roosting at his left side, a chick crouching beneath his right wing, all raised upon a moulded tree stump loosely and freely enamelled with splashes of black, green and aubergine washes. The porcelain Arita, Japan circa 1700.
An identical pair of Arita Cockerel, Hen & Chick models, mounted on French ormolu bases and with scrolling foliate-cast candle branches, sold Christie's (New York) auction 19031 'The Collector' October 8, 2020, lot 8.
An identical model of Arita Cockerel, Hen & Chick model in the Collection of Dr. Toshio Noda (Tokyo, Japan) illustrated p.109, figure 123. An identical model in The Stichting Paleis Het Loo National Museum (Netherlands).
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Ai-Kutani, Kusunokidani kiln, circa 1650-70
A very fine 17th century Ai-Kutani spiral moulded dish with pie-crust rim and sharply undulating cavetto, richly painted with a pair of deer climbing a rocky outcrop
Kusunokidani kiln, Ai-Kutani type, Arita, Hizen province, Japan
early Edo period (mid 17th century)
circa 1650-70
The very finely potted white porcelain body of shallow circular form with a sharply moulded pie crust rim dressed in iron brown fuchi-beni rim glaze with a superbly formed cavetto of undulating, spiralling form. The interior is boldly painted with an asymmetrical scene of a male and female deer climbing a rocky outcrop. Sanskrit characters encircling the well. The asymmetry of the design provides an excellent example of the Japanese aesthetic of The Beauty of Empty Space.
An unusual fuku mark to the reverse.
REFERENCES:
An identical dish in the Shibata Collection at the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, illustrated in Complete Catalogue of Shibata Collection (2019), no.0604, dated 1650-70, catalogued as "Sometsuke Iwashikamon Rinkasara Sometsuke Iwaka pattern ring flower plate 1650s-1670s"
Ai-Kutani, Arita kiln, circa 1660-70
A very rare, fine & iconic mid 17th century Arita Ai-Kutani type moulded tiny 'bean dish' (mame-sara) in the form of a jar, the interior sparsely decorated in underglaze cobalt blue with spring bracken tendrils and sprouting horsetail ferns, the reverse decorated with folded pine needles
Arita kiln, Ai-Kutani type, Hizen province, Japan
early Edo period, Kanbun era (1660-1673)
circa 1660-1670
(5.8 cm diameter; 4.9 cm high)
An iconic form of very early Japanese moulded porcelain in the shape of a storage jar, painted sparsely to the front in underglaze cobalt blue with spring bracken tendrils and sprouting horsetail ferns, the reverse decorated with folded pine needles. These small bean dishes, called mame-sara 豆皿 are revered in Japan; there is a love of the aesthetic beauty of small objects that fit snugly into the palm of one’s hand.
A beautiful and very fine form in perfect condition.
See 'A Complete Catalogue of the Shibata collection' for an almost identical dish, no.1865.
Tatsutagawa design, Arita kiln, circa 1660-80
An elegant blue and white Arita dish finely painted with Tatsutagawa design (Tatsuta River) depicting falling maple leaves and lapping waves on a meandering river beneath a cloudy sky with with highlights picked out using sumi hajiki (ink-repel technique)
Arita ware, Hizen province, Japan
Edo Period (17th century)
circa 1660-80
The design is thought to represent the Tatsuta River, famous for the maple trees that were planted along its banks during the Edo period for the Chūgū-ji Temple at the advise of Shusei Fujimon, an ancient scholar of Japanese Classical literature. The hints of blue sky above the white reserved clouds showcase swirling winds picked out using sumi hajiki technique (literally meaning "ink repel”) in which ink is applied under areas of cobalt; during firing, the ink burns off removing any overlying color (Wilson 1995:118).
A sublimely pleasing pattern.
The reverse encircled with scrolling karakusa. Four spur marks on the base where the dish rested on its sagger in the kiln.
Measurements:
7.6 inches in diameter (19.4 cm); 1.2 inches in height (3.0 cm).
Condition report:
In excellent original condition.