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Dish

17th century

Japan

Porcelain painted with underglaze cobalt blue with iron-brown and green glazes (Arita ware, Nabeshima type)

H. 1 5/8 x Diam. 7 3/4 in. (4.1 x 19.7 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.248

Provenance

John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY; acquired from Kochukyo & Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, February 7, 1977.

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

Licensing inquiries

An arresting design fills the interior surface of this dish: three horizontal bands, each a different color, form a backdrop to the sweeping branches of cherry blossoms sprouting from the bottom. All of the blue areas were painted with cobalt blue before the dish was glazed. The color differentiation between celadon green and iron brown glazes results from the different amount of iron added to the basic clear glaze Nabeshima ware, of which this is an early example, was manufactured in northern Kyushu almost exclusively for the Nabeshima daimyo, both for his family's own use and for presentation to the Edo shogunate.