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Bowl

About 1670-1690

Japan, Saga Prefecture

Porcelain painted with overglaze enamels, with traces of gold (Arita ware, Kakiemon style); with 18th-century gilt bronze mounts

H. 5 1/2 x Diam. 12 7/8 in. (14 x 32.7 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.237

Provenance

John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY; acquired from K.J. Hewett, London, England, July 1963.

The Asia Society, New York, NY, bequest of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY, 1979.

Licensing inquiries

The gilt bronze mounts of this bowl illustrate the transformation of Japanese-manufactured porcelain into European decorative objects. Incised into the base of this bowl is the mark N. 116, which indicates that this piece was one of the more than ten thousand Asian and Meissen ceramics collected by Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (reigned 1694-1733). Inventories of the collection indicate that Kakiemon-style porcelain, often mislabeled as Chinese, were among his favorite ceramics. The interior of this large bowl is painted with two near-identical compositions of brushwood fence, a gnarly rock, and flowering plants on opposite sides, punctuated by a roaming tiger in between. A lean blue dragon circles the center of the dish. The exterior of the bowl is decorated with two peony sprays.