The reverse is signed “Tai Min Seika Nen Sei” (Great Ming Chenghua Year Made) painted in underglaze blue within a blue ring on the glazed foot. This is an apocryphal six-character reign mark of Chenghua, a Chinese emperor in the Ming Dynasty who set very high porcelain standards. To the left of the reign mark is another blue mark with four characters which reads "Nabeshima Seizan.” Seizan was a Nabeshima kiln which produced studio pieces in elegant Nabeshima style during the Meiji period. The foot ring is unglazed, and there is one spur mark.

Nabeshima ware is considered to be the most Japanese of all the porcelains and the most technically perfect. It was made at Okawachi, north of Arita, and was named after the prince who founded the kilns at the end of the 17th century. The porcelain was of much higher quality than that made for export and was originally made as presentation ware for the local nobility. Production was limited, and less than perfect specimens were destroyed. Its elegance was considered to be the epitome of refinement, and production methods were kept a carefully guarded secret. From 1868 on, Nabeshima wares were produced for domestic use and Western export.

Seishoen’s works are highly regarded and are considered to be of similar caliber to those by more widely known studio potters such as Makuzu Kozan or Shofu. A signed Seishoen vase is featured in the world famous Khalili Collection, illustrated in “Treasures of Imperial Japan: Ceramics from the Khalili Collection” on pages 41 and 78.

Arita is a town on the island of Kyushu which has been a center of Japanese porcelain production since the seventeenth century. With Arita blue and whites, the blue is produced from a cobalt or indigo pigment and is painted straight onto the biscuit, after which the piece is glazed and fired. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export. Blue and white sometsuke porcelains with a karakusa designs are examples of wares made for the domestic Japanese market, and they are prized by Japanese collectors.

This type of Imari ware was made by the Fukagawa Koransha potters of Arita. In 1875, Ezaiemon Fukagawa founded Koransha (The Company of the Scented Orchid) in Arita to produce table wares for export. The next year, Koransha exhibited at the Philadelphia Exhibition, and in 1878 they exhibited in Paris. Koransha porcelains are noted for their excellence and consistent high quality.

Arita is a town on the island of Kyushu which has been a center of Japanese porcelain production since the seventeenth century. With Arita blue and whites, the blue is produced from a cobalt or indigo pigment and is painted straight onto the biscuit, after which the piece is glazed and fired.

Nabeshima ware is considered to be the most Japanese of all the porcelains and the most technically perfect. It was made at Okawachi, north of Arita, and was named after the prince who founded the kilns at the end of the 17th century. The porcelain was of much higher quality than that made for export and was originally made as presentation ware for the local nobility. Production was limited, and less than perfect specimens were destroyed. Its elegance was considered to be the epitome of refinement, and production methods were kept a carefully guarded secret. From 1868 on, Nabeshima wares were produced for domestic use and Western export.

Oversized dishes (“ozara”) first became popular among the wealthy urban elite in the 16th century, and they were made at the Arita kilns for the feudal lords (daimyos) for food service at banquets or at other ceremonial events. In the early 19th century, when ordinary townspeople had become affluent and restaurants multiplied, the popularity of large blue and white dishes became even more widespread. In response to this new affluence, large dishes were produced in some quantity and sold throughout Japan. With the penetration of urban culture to rural districts due to improved land and sea transportation, Arita porcelain became widely distributed, and many of these oversized dishes were used at large dinner parties held by leading families in rural districts.

This huge thickly potted charger is an exceptional example of high quality sometsuke porcelain made for the Japanese market, and pieces of this size and quality are rare to find outside of Japan. A similar but smaller charger is illustrated in Figure 62, “Ruri Gi Tsuru Maru Mon Ozara,” in the rare limited edition book entitled SOMETSUKE IMARI OZARA (“Imari Ware: Blue and White Large Dishes”) by Masahiko Kawahara, Tokyo, 1974. This is truly an extraordinary piece.

Seishoen’s works are highly regarded and are considered to be of similar caliber to those by more widely known studio potters such as Makuzu Kozan or Shofu. A signed Seishoen vase is featured in the world famous Khalili Collection, illustrated in “Treasures of Imperial Japan: Ceramics from the Khalili Collection” on pages 41 and 78.

Kutani (which means nine valleys) is a small village in Kaga Province on the northwest coast of the main island of Japan with a long history of porcelain production. They produced models of animals and other figures in addition to other standard porcelain wares.

Arita is a town on the island of Kyushu which has been a center of Japanese porcelain production since the seventeenth century. With Arita blue and whites, the blue is produced from a cobalt or indigo pigment and is painted straight onto the biscuit, after which the piece is glazed and fired. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export.

These special vases were designed specifically for holding small branches displaying leaves from the Asian Sakaki tree (Cleyera japonica) which are placed on either side of a Shinto kamidana shrine. The foliage from this tree is important within the Shinto tradition as a religious altar display item, as the dark green sakaki leaves are appreciated for their evergreen appearance and hearty nature which are thought to impart a sense of abundance and longevity to the Shinto religious setting. The respect the Japanese hold for this tree is evident, as the word sakaki translates as “god tree.”

Arita is a town on the island of Kyushu which has been a center of Japanese porcelain production since the seventeenth century. With Arita blue and whites, the blue is produced from a cobalt or indigo pigment and is painted straight onto the biscuit, after which the piece is glazed and fired. Ceramics for everyday use were made at the same kilns that were producing highly ornate, purely decorative wares primarily for export. These humble vases often have greater appeal than export wares because they show a highly developed sense for matching materials, form and function with simple beauty.