Japanese Kutani Vase of Water Dropper form, circa 1880
Price: £35Kutani (the word means 'nine valleys') porcelain was made at various factories in the former Kaga province of Japan. The earliest pieces were in a completely different style employing a palette of colours emphasising green, the so called 'Ko Kutani'. Production of this ceased around 1730, and manufacturing was not revived until the early nineteenth century when the more familiar colourings of iron red and gold were introduced. This small vase is typical of pieces exported to the West in fairly large quantities at the end of the nineteenth century. The form suggests a water dropper and is found in Imari colourings as well. Many of the Kutani pieces were marked, sometimes simply 'Ku' 'Tani' as here. The glaze was sometimes unstable with a tendency to craze as can be seen here, but this is original to the manufacture and does not detract from the piece's decorative appeal.
Japanese Arita Bowl decorated with panels of flowers and interior Scenes, circa 1820
Price: £45The rather more elaborate style of decoration here and the addition of enamel colours to the standard imari palette of underglaze blue, iron red and gold resembles 'kenjo imari' pieces produced in Japan in the eighteenth century and in the early nineteenth century, a specific type of Imari that was highly decorated and meant for domestic consumption, Kenjo, meaning 'for presentation'. The paste of the foot, harder and smoother than that used in the later nineteenth century, suggests a dating here to around 1820 before trade with the West was temporarily paused. The form suggests a cup for Sake and this piece was probably one of an original set of five, but it stands on its own as a decorative item in miniature.