17th Century Shoki-Imari Blue and White Egret Dish

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A beautiful blue and white Arita dish fired ~1640 to 1650.  This heavily potted Arita dish might be considered an example of early Ai-Kutani ware but the body, glaze, and form of the reverse group it with the earliest Japanese porcelain, Shoki-Imari.  

This dish has a straight rim and infilled double concentric circle framing a central scene of two egrets wading in water amid water plants. The cobalt underglaze is bright; the egrets are rendered in the negative space of the water and plants with the delicate suggestion of feathers via fine brush strokes.   The crown of the egret on the left, and the arched back of his partner to the right help strike a horizontal axis while the water plants to the right arch to the centerline where the heart-shaped leaf completes the vertical axis - the asymmetrical design guided by considered, orthogonal axes - what is not immediately evident lends order to the composition - a superbly Japanese design.  The reverse is encircled by three concentric circles, a delicate water plant tendril and, perhaps, a distant mountain.  It bears a Da Ming mark in the center of the foot ring

The dish is in perfect condition.  The expected  kiln ash, grit on the foot, kiln scrapes, pock marks, and puddled glaze on the reverse - all a testament to the production methods of the period.

D:  20.5 cm

H:    2.5 cm

A beautiful blue and white Arita kilns dish fired 1640-1650. 

This heavily potted Arita dish might be considered an example of early Ai-Kutani ware but the body, glaze, and form of the reverse group it with the earliest Japanese porcelain, Shoki-Imari.   It features a rim of karakusa scrolling vines with the most delicately painted tendrils above two painted rings about the cavetto, the bottom ring more heavy to add visual depth and a frame for the central composition.  At the center, on a rock atop the grass, a warbler (uguisu) is warbling under an afternoon sun among chrysanthemums and reeds.  The reverse is encircled by three delicate sprays of pine straw.  It is marked Tai Ming at the center. . . .

The dish is in remarkable condition with no flaws beyond the expected kiln ash, grit on the foot, kiln scrapes, pocks and puddled glaze on the reverse - all a testament to the production methods of the period

An identical dish (a bit smaller at 20cm) is in the Shibata Collection | Kyushu Ceramic Museum, catalogue #0184

D:  22.3 cm

H:        4 cm

A beautiful blue and white dish fired ~1640 to 1650. 

This delicately potted, flat dish is surprisingly thin for the age and features a moulded rim with a delicate blue edge.  This Arita dish might be considered an example of early Ai-Kutani ware but the body, glaze, and form of the reverse group it with the earliest Japanese porcelain, Shoki-Imari.  

The dish is soft and warm and the thinner cobalt wash is more blue-gray in tone.  At the center, inside two concentric blue rings, is a delicately painted scene of bamboo sprouting amid rocks and grasses.  The composition is delightfully asymmetrical and the overall feeling is one of quick, loose brushwork that manages to cleanly render soft and delicate tendrils, bamboo nodules, gesture lines, and infill.  The eye is naturally drawn to the largest leaf of the bamboo shoot - right where it narrows and directly above the apex of the rock - to the center of the dish, balanced between the painted space and the negative space - masterful! The reverse is neither painted nor marked.

The dish has a small chip on the rim but is otherwise in remarkable condition and the glaze is shiny and bright. The expected kiln ash, grit on the foot, kiln scrapes, pocks and puddled glaze on the reverse - all a testament to the production methods of the period.

D:  20 cm

H:  2.8 cm