A very fine, rare and large Ai-Kutani dish, the surface covered in a soft ruri (lapis lazuli) glaze and superbly decorated with Yukiwa Shibagaki (snow-laden brushwood fences)
Ko-Kutani usu-ruri type, Nakashirakawa kiln, Arita ware, Hizen province, Japan
Edo Period (mid-17th century), Meireki-Manji period
circa 1655-60
CONDITION
In excellent original condition. An original minor kiln flaw to the rim at 10 o'clock covered with original slip and ruri glaze.
MEASUREMENTS
21.5 cm diameter; 3.0 cm high
The front surface covered in a velvety soft pale lapis lazuli blue glaze known as usu-ruri which creates a soft, dreamlike feel for this calming winter scene illustrating banded brushwood hedges heavily laden with snow in a frosty sky. The underside is loosely decorated with scrolling ivy vines, a finely drawn fuku mark within a double square, and three spur marks. This elegant dish was produced at the historically significant Nakashirakawa kiln site which recent research has revealed to be a crucial location for the development of ceramic innovation in Arita, particularly with their early experimentation of glazes and early overglaze enamels.
Excavated sherds have revealed that the site was used for experiments with low-temperature enamel firing, and is now noted to be of critical importance to the evolution of Kakiemon and other polychrome styles between the 1640s and 1660s. The Nakashirakawa and Shimoshirakawa kilns were within close proximity to the early experimental Kusunokidani kiln of Kakiemon I. Evidence from archaeological sherds confirms that early enamels were used at the Nakashirakawa kiln during the experimental phase of Japanese polychrome porcelain in the early 1640s. Scientific analysis of these early Nakashirakawa sherds reveal an iron-based yellow enamel and an early, experimentally-failed blue-green enamel. According to a 2020 study by Nobuyuki Murakami and Riccardo Montanari, these finds illustrate a frantic period for Arita potters following the expulsion of Europeans in 1639, when potters at Nakashirakawa were attempting to replace imported Jesuit pigments with local materials, successfully creating iron-yellow but struggling to replicate overglaze blue. While Nakashirakawa has long been credited with importance innovations in clay and glaze production, these early enamelled sherd discoveries prove it was also a site of active innovation for overglaze polychrome techniques in the period immediately preceding the rapid development of overglaze enamels by the Kakiemon.
STORAGE
With a traditional Japanese paulownia wood storage box and silk ribbon tie.
A rare ruri Ai-Kutani snow on banded hedges dish, Nakashirakawa kiln c1655-60
PRICE UPON REQUEST.
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416 666 6295
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REFERENCES
A pair of identical dishes, attributed to the Nakashirakawa kiln are found in the Toguri Museum of Art (Tokyo, Japan), described as follows: "Dishes, decorated with snowed brushwood fence design in underglaze blue, Edo period, mid 17th century; decorated with a scene of snow accumulated atop and around a brushwood fence. The design is positioned off-centre, to the lower right, and the remaining space is filled with usurui, a thin coat of ruri glaze, to create a solid yet soft, blue colouration. With the fine detail on the brushwood fence, and the way the snow is expressed through undecorated white space, these dishes have a gentle, dreamy feel. A fragment with the same design was excavated from the Nakashirakawa kiln site. The underside decorated with a design of ivy vines. Within the foot there is a mark, as well as three spur marks from the kiln supports."
Another identical dish, attributed to the Shimoshirakawa kiln is found at the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts (Tokyo, Japan), donated by Masayuki Yamamoto, and described as follows: "A dish wish banded hedges in snow on blue ground, blue and white porcelain attributed to Shimoshirakawa kiln, Shoki-Imari ware 1610-1660". Illustrated in Nezu Institute of Art Imari and Nabeshima ware (Tokyo, 1998) no. 23.
Another identical dish covered in soft, pale ruyi (lapis lazuli) glaze is found in the Shibata Collection at the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, illustrated in Complete Catalogue of Shibata Collection (2019) no. 1217.
A very similar dish covered in deep ruyi (lapis lazuli) glaze is found in the Shibata Collection at the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, illustrated in Complete Catalogue of Shibata Collection (2019) no. 452.