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Signed Hirado Sometsuke Dish with Relief Lotus Flower browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Japanese:Porcelain: Pre 1920: item # 973569 Please refer to our stock # 2-861 when inquiring.
B & C Antiques P. O. Box 291 Derby, CT 06418 203-929-7312 Guest Book $275 |
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This lovely Japanese Hirado sometsuke (blue and white porcelain) dish is elegantly decorated in various shades of underglaze blue with a large white lotus blossom molded in low relief. Meiji period (1868-1912). The reverse bears a three-character underglaze blue mark which reads “Hirado Yaki” or Hirado ware. (This mark can be found on page 149 of “Hirado: Prince of Porcelains” by Louis Lawrence.) The characteristic fine-grained milky white porcelain body is covered in a pure lustrous glaze, revealing the single white flower blossom emerging on a blue stem from a large open lotus leaf. The second leaf is unfurling. The pure white exterior of the bowl is decorated with two underglaze cobalt blue flower scrolls. Hirado wares are considered to be among the finest porcelains ever made in Japan, and they are highly prized among today’s collectors. Hirado was produced at Mikawachi near Arita, and for much of its history was made under the patronage of the lords of Hirado. Aristocratic patronage ended in the 1830’s with the commercialization of the kilns; however, the quality of Hirado remained very high. Hirado ware consists of a very pure, fine-grained and high-quality white porcelain, usually decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. It is characterized by highly refined white clay that would be fired to high temperatures, and the glaze was lustrous and void of any kind of granulation. The lotus (“hasu”) is a water flower that rises above large fan-shaped leaves, growing in still, shallow bodies of fresh water and mud. Buddhist traditions hold that the lotus is a sacred flower. In secular Chinese art, the lotus has many auspicious meanings, variously symbolizing harmony, love, sympathy and prosperity. CONDITION is excellent with only slight wear marks on the surface. DIMENSIONS: 6" (15.3 cm) diameter, 1 1/8” (2.8 cm) high. |
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