JIAQING 1796 – 1820 Japanese Market Porcelain

Information

his rare shell shaped dish was incorrectly attributed by me to the Arita kilns in Japan, see the description below. I owe thanks to David Hyatt King for pointing out that this piece is in fact Chinese not Japanese, made in Japanese taste for the Japanese market. It is part of a group of not very well known and rarely published porcelain that I am well aware. Indeed I have had a few pieces before, so I should have known better, including a rare dated square blue and white porcelain tea jar very close to the example in the British Museum. Other forms are known, for example circular baskets with a large low strap shape handle over the top, there are also rectangular trays which normally bare the seal mark of Jiaqing. Like the present example these objects are very much in Japanese taste and again like this shell dish they often have a large number of spur marks on the base. David Hyatt King told me that the spur marks on our dish were far too regular to be Japanese, however the use of a large number of spurs to support a piece in the kiln is a technique used in Japan at this period.

The Previous Incorrect Description :
ARITA c.1820 - 1850
Japanese Porcelain

An Unusual 19th Century Japanese Porcelain Shell Shaped Tripod Dish, Arita Kilns c.1820-1850. The Interior of this Finely Painted Dish Depicts Mount Hōrai-san, Isle of Immortality with Large Building Draped in Clouds. The Reverse Supported by Three Small Cone Shaped Feet and Covered in an Olive Green Glaze.

Mt. Hōrai(Japanese: Hōrai-san; Chinese: Penglai-shan) is a mythical peak of Chinese origin said to rise from an island paradise inhabited by Taoist immortals. In Chinese lore the isle of Mt. Hōrai is one of three elusive, mist shrouded islands lying not far off the east coast of China, but nevertheless impossible to reach. In Japan, Mt. Hōrai became an auspicious emblem of long-life and well-being.