Details
THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE TRUST

A Large Imari Nanban Ship Bowl
Meiji period (late 19th century)
The deep bowl with foliate rim, decorated in iron-red, green, aubergine, yellow and black enamels and gilt on underglaze blue with a central roundel depicting a Dutch ship, bordered by a band with dragons and sacred pearls among scrolling clouds, surrounded by panels of further ships and two faux coats-of-arms divided by pairs of standing Dutchmen in various poses on a floral geometric ground, the exterior with two shaped square panels each containing a ship and two circular panels with Dutch figures divided by peonies and foliage, the base with a ju (felicitation or longevity) character
33.5cm. diam.
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Lot Essay


According to Nishida Hiroko, the ships depicted here are originally based on the Dutch ships of around 1700 and the hairstyle and dress of the Dutchmen are more likely from the mid-18th century. The design of the Dutch ships and Dutchmen was popular in the Imari ware and such bowls were produced through 18th and 19th centuries. For more about this design, see Goto Shigeki ed., Sekai toji zenshu [Collection of world's ceramics], vol. 8, Edo (3), (Tokyo, 1978), p. 70.

For similar examples, see:
Soame Jenyns, Japanese Porcelain, (London, 1965), no. 45A. (British Museum)
Tokyo National Museum, Tokubetsu-ten Nihon no toji [Special Exhibition: Japanese Ceramics], (Tokyo, 1985), p. 228, no. 324.
Hayashiya Seizo ed., Ko-Kutani, Ko-Imari, vol. 5 of Nihon no Toji [Japanese ceramics], (Tokyo, 1972), p.186-187, no. 239 (Hakone Museum of Art), p. 225, no. 347.
Goto Shigeki ed., Sekai toji zenshu [Collection of world's ceramics], vol. 8, Edo (3), (Tokyo, 1978), p. 70. no. 64-65. (Kyusei Hakone Art Museum)
Nagatake Takeshi, Imari, vol. 19 of Toji taikei [A compendium of ceramics], (Tokyo, 1973), no. 65.
Tokyo Bijutsu Club ed., Kokuho o chushin to suru kobijutsu meihin [An Exhibition of Old Artworks Focusing on National Treasures], (Tokyo, 2006), p. 80, no. 5. (MOA Museum)
City Art Museum of Saint Louis, 200 Years of Japanese Porcelain, (USA, 1970), p. 61, no. 48.
Okuda Seiichi, Koyama Fujio and Hayashiya Seizo eds., Japanese Ceramics – Illustrated Catalog of Selected Masterpieces –, (Tokyo, 1954), no. 83.
Nihon Kanko Bunka Kenkyujo ed., Umi o watatta Nihon no yakimono [Japanese ceramics that crossed the ocean], (Tokyo, 1985), p. 106.
Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Kakiemon and Nabeshima, (Tokyo, 2008), p. 192, no. 156.

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