Dish depicting map of Japan

This rectangular porcelain dish with undulating rim bears a press-molded relief design of a map of Japan and surrounding lands, both actual and imaginary. The decorator used cobalt pigment to outline the provinces of Japan, write the province and country names, and fill the oceans with a rolling pattern of “octopus vinescrolls” (tako karakusa). The wave-like coils of the vinescrolls contrast particularly effectively with the angular outlines and relief texture of the map, and the marked bluish caste of the clear glaze sets off the deep blue of the cobalt. The back of the plate bears a different wave pattern, composed from linked curves and dots suggesting crests and foam, with eight wish-granting jewels floating in the troughs. In the center of the base appears a four-character Japanese date, “Tempo nensei (made in the Tempo era [1830-44])”.