Antique Boat Shape Imari Bowl

Details

Description

It can be said that the Japanese acknowledge culinary arts to be an art form and many serving pieces were … Read more It can be said that the Japanese acknowledge culinary arts to be an art form and many serving pieces were specially made for the presentation. In this sense, the Chinese potters could not catch up with the creative ceramic forms especially in painted porcelain from the Imari kilns. Quoting from Google, "Kaiseki is a traditional, multi-course Japanese meal, often considered the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine. It's known for its intricate presentation, seasonal ingredients, and emphasis on balancing flavors and textures. Kaiseki is not just a meal, but a carefully orchestrated dining experience that celebrates the beauty of nature and the seasons." This unusual "boat" shape serving dish would have been used to serve up culinary delights. The boat design is indengiously Japanese but the decorative elements were inspired by a type of Chinese porcelain named Wucai - 5 colors - white, blue, red, green and gold. The Japanese were enamored by this type of ceramics and no double Imari potters tried to make good imitations of it. The most unusual feature of this object is the spurious 6 character mark a Chinese emperor. Potters in general were not members of the literati class and they were quite unaware that they made a grave error. They took the characters of two emperors, putting them together in error. Their intention was probably to honor the name of the Qianlong Emperor of the 18th century, but they only used half of his name, the bottom half. The top half belonged to the Emperor Guangxu who ruled towards the late 19th century. It is quite helpful to date this piece as last quarter of the 19th century, and not 18th century as intended. See less