Japanese Kakiemon / Japanese Kakiemon-style wares - Japanese Kakiemon

Object 2012630

Bowl

Japan (Kiln: probably Nangawara)

c.1700

Height 84 mm (3.31 inch), diameter of rim 168 mm (6.61 inch), diameter of footring 73 mm (2.87 inch), weight 430 grams (15.17 ounce (oz.))

Bowl on footring, spreading sides, with everted scalloped rim. On the base a single spur-mark. Decorated in underglaze blue with a continuous scene of a fenced garden with Chinese figures, prunus trees and rocks. Two figures are seated at a table, while a third is walking toward them holding a basket. On the other side two standing figures, one holding a fan. Over the scene curling clouds. In the centre a medallion with a European landscape, showing a farmer leading a cow, two European figures, a pole, a building on hills, a sail and houses. Around the inside rim a karakusa 唐草 (foliate) scrolls border. A double blue line around the foot. Brown edge. Marked on the base with a fuku 福 (good fortune) mark in a circle. (SKD Online collection, PO. 1929)

The design on this bowl has traditionally been called 'Deshima' or 'Scheveningen'. This design was highly popular in The Netherlands, and possibly also in Japan as a kind of Western exoticism. It first appeared, in underglaze blue, on Japanese dishes of the late 17^th century.

2012630 f

It certainly does not depict the Dutch factory in Deshima (Nagasaki), a fan-shaped, man-made island in Japan to which Westerners were restricted between 1641 and 1862. Scheveningen, a fishermen´s village on the Dutch coast near The Hague seems a more appropriate name. In fact 47 'Scheveningen' plates were already mentioned in the 1778 sale catalogue of the porcelain shop of Martha Raap in Amsterdam, clearly indicating this type. Much research was done to find the print that was used as a model, but non with this view have yet come to light. it is therefore possible that another source was used, maybe a plate or dish in the so-called Frijtom style. Frederick van Frijtom (c.1632-1702) was a Delft faience painter who specialised in plates, dishes, and plaques with landscapes in blue. His work is characterised by wide blank rims on plates and dishes, detailed painting of trees and landscapes and a specific way of drawing clouds. (Jörg 2003/1) The existence of a Scheveningen Japanese plate in precisely this style makes it plausible that at some point a Delft example by Frijtom was used. (Terwee 1989)

Several variations of the ´Scheveningen decoration´ design are known, in both Japanese and – later - Chinese porcelain. These were mostly dishes, but elements of the design were also used on bowls and cups. Some copies are barely recognisable.

A larger (228 mm (8.69 inch)), identically shaped and decorated bowl is in the collection of Augustus the Strong in Dresden and registered under the number P.O. (Porzellan Ostasien) 1929. In the Palace Invertory 1721 four identical bowls are mentioned under the Inventory entry number N 376. In the Inventory of 1779 three bowl are mentioned.

Dresden inv 376

Source: Palace Inventory 1721 Entry: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Inventory no. 324. Inventorisation of the Palais in Alt-Dresden. In the year 1721. [Addenda], Blue-and-white Indian, Ch. I. Dresden 1721I, pag. 805:. (SKD Online collection, PO. 1929)

German:

"376. 4 Stk. feine, breitgerippte Spühl Näpfe mit abgesezten braunen Randen, 4 Z. tief, 9¼ Z. in diam."

English:

"376. 4 fine broad-ribbed slop bowls with offset rims dressed in brown, 4 in. deep, 9¼ in. in diam."

PO 1929_2a

PO 1929_3a

PO 1929_4a

(SKD Online collection, PO. 1929) this bowl is not included in this sale/offer.

The 'Scheveningen' motif has been altered, but the compositional elements are still easily recognisable. Rocks and figures create a strong diagonal that is absent in earlier versions. An enamelled Meissen bowl of c.1730 in the British Museum closely copies this shape and design, including the diagonal composition.

For this Meissen bowl, please see:

Porcelain for Palaces. The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750, (J. Ayers, O. Impey & J.V.G. Mallet, Oriental Ceramic Society & The British Museum, London 1990), p.264, cat. 301.

An interesting example in the collection of the Groninger Museum: a blank Chinese porcelain dish overdecorated in Delft (the Netherlands) c.1700-1730. The circle was thus made complete, the design having travelled from Delft to Japan and then back to Delft. (Jörg 2003/1, cat. 307a)

For this Delft variant, please see:

Fine & Curious: Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (C.J.A. Jörg, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam 2003), p.241, cat. 307a.

In the cargo of the Ca Mau shipwreck, c.1725 a total of 80 dishes decorated with the Chine de commande 'Scheveningen decoration' were found. As we know the original designs were traditionally made in Japan for the Dutch. These dishes were so popular that Chinese potters copied them in order to compete with the Japanese. Such copies were already known, but the occurrence in the Ca Mau made it likely that these dishes, and therefore most of the porcelain cargo, were destined for Batavia because only the Dutch would appreciate such specific Chine de commande pieces. (Amsterdam 2007, p.17, lot 223-233 & p.179)

The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Arita, dates this specific mark to 1670-80, which seems rather early. Fitski states that the character of this mark has not been identified. It occurs on Nangawara pieces that date from 1670 to 1700. For this mark please see:

The Shibata Collection Part V, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu, 1997), p.253, cat. 16.
Kakiemon Porcelain. A Handbook. (M. Fitski, Leiden University Press, Leiden & Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2011), p.165.

Condition: A tiny fleabite to the rim.

References:

Terwee 1989

Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, cat. 33

Kyushu 1991, cat. 503

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat.307a & cat. 312

Kyushu 1997, 9.253, cat. 16

Jörg 2003/1, cat. 312

Kyushu 2003, cat. 2167

Amsterdam 2007, p.17, lot 223-233 & p.179

Fitski 2011, p.165

SKD Online collection, PO. 1929

Price: Sold.