An Unusual Ming Porcelain Aubergine Form Dish Made for the Japanese Market, Transitional Period c.1625 – 1635
An unusual Ming porcelain dish for the Japanese market, Tianqi or early Chongzhen c.1625 – 1635. The thickly moulded porcelain tea ceremony dish is in the shape of an aubergine. It is painted with a simple landscape including a small vessel on the water and a solitary figure on the foreshore.
SOLD
- Condition
- No damage but with some small bubbles to the glaze on the reverse.
- Size
- Length : 19 cm (7 1/2 inches)
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 24662
Photos
Information
Ming Porcelain for Japan :
During the late Ming Period the Chinese made a large among of porcelain for the Japanese market, it was made from the Wanli period (1573-1620) and ended in the Chongzhen period (1628-1644), the main period of production being the 1620`s and 1630`s. The porcelain objects produced were made especially for the Japanese market, both the shapes and the designs were tailored to Japanese taste, the production process too allowed for Japanese aesthetics to be included in the finished object. Its seams firing faults were added, repaired tears in the leather-hard body were too frequent to not, in some cases, be deliberate. These imperfections as well as the fritting Mushikui (insect-nibbled) rims and kiln grit on the footrims all added to the Japanese aesthetic. The shapes created were often expressly made for the Japanese tea ceremony meal, the Kaiseki, small dishes for serving food at the tea ceremony are the most commonly encountered form. Designs, presumably taken from Japanese drawings sent to China, are very varied, often using large amount of the white porcelain contrasting well with the asymmetry of the design.