Nabeshima ware dish in seven-sun size

Object Details

• Description

  Seven-sun plate. Dish on high foot. Footrim repaired.

  Clay: fine white porcelain.

  Glaze: transparent.

  Decoration: in underglaze blue and overglaze enamel colors; outside, flowers on cavetto and typical "comb pattern" on foot; inside, auspicious objects and "kotobuki" reserved in white.

• Label

  Auspicious symbols have been assembled eclectically from various groups of "eights" (The Eight Buddhist Emblems, the Eight Taoist Emblems, the Eight Precious Things and the Eight Musical Instruments), all of which were popular for decorative use in China as well as in Japan. Eight "sacred jewels" ring the character kotobuki ("congratulations") rendered in reserve in white against the under-glaze-cobalt ground. The items depicted around the rim include the hat and the cape of invisibility in the upper left, scrolls and books suggesting wisdom, bulging moneybags shown not just once but twice, and attributes carried by various of the Eight Taoist Immortals.

• Provenance

  To 1963

  Harry C. Nail, Jr., Palo Alto, California. [1]

  From 1963

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Harry C. Nail, Jr., Palo Alto, California. [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Summer Whites: Japanese Porcelain (July 1, 1983 to March 15, 1984)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Harry C. Nail Jr. (1909-1990)

• Origin

  Imari, Saga prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Nail, Harry C.

• Place

  Imari, Japan, Saga prefecture

• Topic

  Cobalt pigment, Porcelain, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Arita ware, Nabeshima type, Taisho era (1912 - 1926), Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)