Sold Ceramics

Kyushu 2003, cat. 1804

Price: Sold.

Published: H.A. Daendels, Catalogus tentoonstelling Japans blauw wit Porselein. Op Hollandse bestelling en in de Japanse smaak, exhibition catalogue Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof, Leeuwarden 1981. Also Published as Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 101/102, p.49, cat. 56.

2011989

Sold Ceramics - Sold Japanese Garnitures or Parts of a Garniture - Page 1

Object 2011989

Jar

Japan

1660-1680

Height 260 mm (10.24 diameter of mouthrim 105 mm (4.45 inch), diameter of footring 105 mm (4.13nch), weight 2,756 grams (97.22 ounce (oz.))

Exhibited: Tentoonstelling Japans blauw en wit porselein. Op Hollandse bestelling en in de Japanse smaak, (exhibition Catalogue Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof), Leeuwarden 10 april tot 19 juni 1981.

Jar on footring, short neck with a wide slightly spreading mouthrim. Fine crazing to the glaze of the lower half of the jar. The original cover is missing. Decorated in underglaze blue with two large panels filled with flowering chrysanthemum separated by lotus and scrolling foliage. On the shoulder a band of chrysanthemum petals and around the neck a band of lappets. On the shoulder a circular paper Christie's auction sale label. On the base a rectangular paper collectors label that reads: 'Mr. H.A. Daendels 104 Amsterdam', three rectangular paper Christie's auction sale lot 'DC 743' labels and a red circular paper label with the number: '56.

In 1981 the Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof - Leeuwarden organised an exhibition devoted to blue -and-white porcelains made in Japan during the 17th and 18th centuries for export to the Netherlands in particular. Barbara Harrisson asked Mr. H.A. Deandels, a Dutch collector of early blue-and-white porcelains from Japan, to organize the exhibition. A catalogue was ensured with the support of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek.

The vase was included in the 1981 exhibition and published in its complementary catalogue as cat. 56.

Reproduced from: H.A. Daendels, Catalogus tentoonstelling Japans blauw wit Porselein. Op Hollandse bestelling en in de Japanse smaak, exhibition catalogue Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof, Leeuwarden 1981. Also Published as Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 101/102, p.49, cat. 56.

After Mr Daendel's death the vase was, together with another Japanese vase, sold at Christie's Amsterdam in sale 2584, 20/21 May 2003, lot 437.

For similarly sized and shaped jars, please see:

Condition: A hairline to the rim.

References:

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1971, cat. 140

Daendels 1981, cat. 56

Oxford 1981, cat. 255

Kyushu 1990/1, cat. 349

Kyushu 1991, cat. 539 & 540

Kyushu 2001, cat. 429, 430 & 431

Price: Sold.

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1971, cat. 142

2011949

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Object 2011949

Jar

Japan

1670-1680

Height 252 mm (9.92 inch), diameter of mouthrim 113 mm (4.45 inch), diameter of footring 104 mm (4.09 inch), weight 2,346 grams (54.46 ounce (oz.))

Jar on footring, short neck with a wide slightly spreading mouthrim. The original cover is missing. Decorated in underglaze blue with flowering plants alternating with a bird in flight. On the shoulder a folded leaves pattern border. Around the neck a band of lappets.

Garnitures are sets of (usually) three covered oviform-shaped jars and two cylindrical beaker vases with spreading mouths. They were very popular in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where they were used as decorative items in the interior. Large garnitures could only be afforded by the nobility and well to do who displayed them in the representative rooms and galleries of their palaces and country houses. They were often placed on specially made pedestals or were mounted and functioned as exotic eyecatchers. Placed inside the fireplace they hid the blackened wall from view in summer and filled with sand, these jars were used as extinguishers near fire-places. Smaller garnitures were placed on a table, a comptoir (a small cabinet with drawers), or on the mantelshelf, but their most natural place was on the top of a porcelain cabinet. The origin of the five-piece set has not been established yet but it seems logical to look to China, which influenced Japanese export wares in so many ways. Transitional pieces, including large covered jars with an enamelled decoration, reached The Netherlands in the 1640s, and clearly had a decorative function in the Dutch Interior. When Chinese production waned, the Japanese took over and from the late 17th century started to make similar jars and beakers in underglaze blue to order for the Dutch. Then, suddenly, they were no longer single objects but parts of five-piece sets. Large scale porcelain production for export was resumed in China in the early 1680s and many new shapes emerged. Apparently, the garniture set was among them. What exactly triggered the change from the single vase or beaker to a set is not known. Japanese covered jars decorated in underglaze blue usually show Chinese elements such as phoenixes, large flowering plants, rocks, and sometimes figures in a landscape setting. Most jars are globular or oviform. They reflect the relatively rare hexagonal and octagonal Chinese pieces, in particular the Transitional jars of the 1640's. The Chinese had stopped producing polygonal jars in the middle of the 17th century. This Japanese preference for any-sided pieces is also apparent in the shape of dishes, saucers and bowls made for export from the late 17th century onwards. Covers of jars are domed and often quite high. The knobs are large and either flattened, round or pear-shaped and rarely facetted. It is interesting to note that the decoration on the Arita pieces does not imitate some of the specific Chinese Kangxi patterns, such as the characteristic division in bands of panels but show two or three wide panels filled with motifs taken from nature or a free-flowing composition all over the surface. Complete blue-and-white garnitures are extremely rare nowadays, and most existing single vases or jars might in fact have been part of such a set. When the five-piece sets became popular, the blue-and-white pieces were largely replaced by their polychrome (Imari) counterparts. (Hartog 1990, p.130, cat 158), (Jörg 2003/1, pp.259-260)

For similarly sized and shaped jars, please see:

Condition: A chip to the rim.

References:

Daendels 1981, cat. 50

Oxford 1981, cat. 261

Kassel 1990, cat. 206a,b & 207

London 1997, cat. 21

Price: Sold.

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1971, p.52 & cat. 151

2011756

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Object 2011756

Covered jar

Japan

1680-1700

Height with cover 615 mm (24.21 inch), height without cover 409 mm (16.10 inch), diameter of rim 150 mm (5.91 inch), diameter of footring 145 mm (5.71 inch)

Octagonal oviform jar on takefushi-shaped foot. Wide, octagonal upright neck. High, domed cover with flat rim and eight-sided, facetted, pointed knob. On the base a firing spur still attached. Decorated in underglaze blue with a continuous river scene showing large rocks, cloud scrolls, a waterfall, figures on a bridge and in a pagoda, a pine and bamboo tree and a blossoming prunus. On the shoulder a ruyi border and a band with narrow lappets and ruyi. On the mouthrim auspicious symbols alternating with formal flowers. On the cover a similar river scene, the knob with foliate scrolls. Above the foot a band of pointed half-leaves. Round the foot a key-fret pattern.

The pine tree, bamboo and prunus are known as 'The Three friends of Winter' and symbolise endurance, long life and happiness.(Jörg 2003/1, p.263)

These type of large covered jars may be considered as a form of Japanese 'Chinoiserie' for the European market. In Japan larger covered jars of this kind were called chinkô tsubo (aloe jar), presumably because aromatic substances such as wood were transported in these jars by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), from South East Asia to Europe. Shards of this type have been excavated on the site of the Dutch trading post of the VOC. in Nagasaki which are dated 1670-1700. (Ströber 2001, pp.156-157, cat. 69)

For an identically shaped and decorated covered jar, please see:

Japans porselein met blauwe decoraties uit de tweede helft van de zeventiende en de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, in, Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 64/65, 1971), p.101, cat.151.

For a set of three similarly shaped and decorated covered jars, please see:

La maladie de porcelaine..., East Asian Porcelain from the Collection of August the Strong, (E. Ströber, Edition Leipzig, Berlin, 2001), pp.156-157, cat. 69.

Condition:

Jar: A frit to the rim and a firing tension, star-shaped, hairline to the base.

Cover: A firing flaw to the inside and a hairline with some restored frits and chips to the rim.

References:

Price: Sold.

2012452

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Object 2012452

Jar

Japan

1680-1700

Height 315 mm (12.40 inch), diameter of rim 131 mm (5.16 inch), diameter of footring 115 mm (4.52 inch)

Octagonal oviform jar on takefushi-shaped foot. Wide, octagonal upright neck. The original cover is missing. Decorated in underglaze blue with flowering peony and chrysanthemum plants growing rockwork alternating by a phoenix or pheasant, one standing the other in flight. On the shoulder four reserves, two filled with a shishi on a dense foliage ground and the other two with a dragon chasing flaming pearl in between scrolling clouds. On the upright neck panels with geometrics symbols alternating with flower heads on a foliate ground. Round the foot a spriral-pattern border.

These type of large covered jars may be considered as a form of Japanese 'Chinoiserie' for the European market. In Japan larger covered jars of this kind were called chinkô tsubo (aloe jar), presumably because aromatic substances such as wood were transported in these jars by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), from South East Asia to Europe. Shards of this type have been excavated on the site of the Dutch trading post of the VOC. in Nagasaki which are dated 1670-1700. (Ströber 2001, pp.156-157, cat. 69)

For an identically shaped and decorated beaker vase, please see:

Mistrovská dĩla Japonského porcelánu / Masterpieces of Japanese Porcelain, (F. Suchomel, Prague 1997), p.78, cat. 28.

Condition: Some fine crazing to the glaze.

References:

Suchomel 1997, cat. 28

Price: Sold.

2012448

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Object 2012448

Covered jar

Japan

1680-1700

Height with cover 202 mm (7.95 inch), height without cover 165 mm (6.49 inch), diameter of mouthrim 75 mm (2.95 inch), diameter of footring 70 mm (2.76 inch), weight with cover 1,223 grams (28.57 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 126 grams (8.18 ounce (oz.))

Jar on footring, short neck with a wide slightly spreading mouthrim, domed cover with flattened conical knob. Decorated in underglaze blue with three large vertical panels. In each panel a flower spray, one with a bird in flight. Between the panels scroll work with flower heads. On the neck a lappet border and on the shoulder bands of lappets and spirals. Round the foot a border with up-turned spiky lotus leaves. The cover is similarly decorated with three panels, filled with flower sprays and divided by flowering scrolls.

These type of large covered jars may be considered as a form of Japanese 'Chinoiserie' for the European market. In Japan larger covered jars of this kind were called chinkô tsubo (aloe jar), presumably because aromatic substances such as wood were transported in these jars by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), from South East Asia to Europe. (Ströber 2001, pp.156-157, cat. 69)

For three identically shaped, sized and decorated covered jars, please see:

Porzellan aus China und Japan. Die Porzellangalerie der Landgrafen von Hessen-Kassel, (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel, Berlin 1990), p.232, cat. 231a,b,c. & p.513.

Condition:

Jar: Perfect.

Cover: A firing flaw, a re-stuck piece to the rim and a frit to the knob.

References:

Kassel 1990, cat. 231a,b,c

Price: Sold.

2012658 & 2012686

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Objects 2012685 & 2012686

A pair of covered jars

Japan

1680-1700

2012685: Height with cover 350 mm (13.78 inch), height without cover 250 mm (9.84 inch), diameter of rim 110 mm (4.33 inch), diameter of footring 105 mm (4.13 inch), weight with cover 2.455 grams (86.60 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 386 grams (13.62 ounce (oz.))

2012686: Height with cover 365 mm (14.37 inch), height without cover 265 mm (10.43 inch), diameter of rim 117 mm (4.61 inch), diameter of footring 115 mm (4.53 inch), weight with cover 2.549 grams (89.92 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 373 grams (13.16 ounce (oz.))

Two hexagonal oviform jars on takefushi-shaped foots. Wide, hexagonal upright necks. Domed covers with flat rims and seated lion shaped knobs. Decorated in underglaze blue with two large phoenixes or pheasants, one in flight the other perched on a rock alternating with grasses and flowering peony and camelia Japonica plants. On the shoulder a band with karakusa scrolls and narrow lappets. On the neck auspicious symbols on a karakusa scroll ground. The covers are decorated en suite.

These covered jars might have originally been part of garniture consisting of three covered oviform-shaped jars and two cylindrical beaker vases with spreading mouths. They were very popular in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe where they were used as decorative items in the interior. Large garnitures could only be afforded by the nobility and well to do who displayed them in the representative rooms and galleries of their palaces and country houses. They were often placed on specially made pedestals or were mounted and functioned as exotic eyecatchers. Placed inside the fireplace they hid the blackened wall from view in summer and filled with sand, these jars were used as extinguishers near fire-places. The origin of the five-piece set has not been established yet but it seems logical to look to China, which influenced Japanese export wares in so many ways. Transitional pieces, including large covered jars with an enamelled decoration, reached The Netherlands in the 1640s, and clearly had a decorative function in the Dutch Interior. When Chinese production waned, the Japanese took over and from the late 17th century started to make similar jars and beakers in underglaze blue to order for the Dutch. Then, suddenly, they were no longer single objects but parts of five-piece sets. Large scale porcelain production for export was resumed in China in the early 1680s and many new shapes emerged. Apparently, the garniture set was among them. What exactly triggered the change from the single vase or beaker to a set is not known. Japanese covered jars decorated in underglaze blue usually show Chinese elements such as phoenixes, large flowering plants, rocks, and sometimes figures in a landscape setting. Most jars are globular or oviform. They reflect the relatively rare hexagonal and octagonal Chinese pieces, in particular the Transitional jars of the 1640's. The Chinese had stopped producing polygonal jars in the middle of the 17th century. This Japanese preference for any-sided pieces is also apparent in the shape of dishes, saucers and bowls made for export from the late 17th century onwards. Covers of jars are domed and often quite high. The knobs are large and either flattened, round or pear-shaped and rarely facetted as is the case with this jar It is interesting to note that the decoration on the Arita pieces does not imitate some of the specific Chinese Kangxi patterns, such as the characteristic division in bands of panels but show two or three wide panels filled with motifs taken from nature or a free-flowing composition all over the surface. Complete blue-and-white garnitures are extremely rare nowadays, and most existing single vases or jars might in fact have been part of such a set. When the five-piece sets became popular, the blue-and-white pieces were largely replaced by their polychrome (Imari) counterparts. (Hartog 1990, p.130, cat 158), (Jörg 2003/1, pp.259-260)

These type of large covered jars may be considered as a form of Japanese 'Chinoiserie' for the European market. In Japan larger covered jars of this kind were called chinkô tsubo (aloe jar), presumably because aromatic substances such as wood were transported in these jars by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), from South East Asia to Europe. Shards of this type have been excavated on the site of the Dutch trading post of the VOC. in Nagasaki which are dated 1670-1700. (Ströber 2001, pp.156-157, cat. 69)

Condition: Both lions have lost the tip of their tails.

References:

Price: Sold.

2011821

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Object 2011821

Jar

Japan

1690-1720

Height 489 mm (12.40 inch), diameter of rim 179 mm (5.16 inch), diameter of footring 185 mm (4.52 inch), weight 10,900 grams (384.49 ounce (oz.)),

Large ovoid jar on footring, recessed base. Wide upright neck. The original cover is missing. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red, gold and enamels with three large panels of peony, chrysanthemum, prunus and peach. The shoulders with a band of kidney-shaped panels of similar flowers below two registers of running foliage on the collar and neck. The slightly ridged foot encircled by classic scroll below a basic frieze of leaves and fronds.

This covered jar might have originally been part of garniture consisting of three covered oviform-shaped jars and two cylindrical beaker vases with spreading mouths. They were very popular in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe where they were used as decorative items in the interior. Large garnitures could only be afforded by the nobility and well to do who displayed them in the representative rooms and galleries of their palaces and country houses. They were often placed on specially made pedestals or were mounted and functioned as exotic eyecatchers. Placed inside the fireplace they hid the blackened wall from view in summer and filled with sand, these jars were used as extinguishers near fire-places. The origin of the five-piece set has not been established yet but it seems logical to look to China, which influenced Japanese export wares in so many ways. Transitional pieces, including large, covered jars with an enamelled decoration, reached The Netherlands in the 1640s, and clearly had a decorative function in the Dutch Interior. When Chinese production waned, the Japanese took over and from the late 17th century started to make similar jars and beakers in underglaze blue to order for the Dutch. Then, suddenly, they were no longer single objects but parts of five-piece sets. Large scale porcelain production for export was resumed in China in the early 1680s and many new shapes emerged. Apparently, the garniture set was among them. What exactly triggered the change from the single vase or beaker to a set is not known. Japanese covered jars decorated in underglaze blue usually show Chinese elements such as phoenixes, large flowering plants, rocks, and sometimes figures in a landscape setting. Most jars are globular or oviform. They reflect the relatively rare hexagonal and octagonal Chinese pieces, in particular the Transitional jars of the 1640's. The Chinese had stopped producing polygonal jars in the middle of the 17th century. This Japanese preference for any-sided pieces is also apparent in the shape of dishes, saucers and bowls made for export from the late 17th century onwards. Covers of jars are domed and often quite high. The knobs are large and either flattened, round or pear-shaped and rarely facetted as is the case with this jar It is interesting to note that the decoration on the Arita pieces does not imitate some of the specific Chinese Kangxi patterns, such as the characteristic division in bands of panels but show two or three wide panels filled with motifs taken from nature or a free-flowing composition all over the surface. Complete blue-and-white garnitures are extremely rare nowadays, and most existing single vases or jars might in fact have been part of such a set. When the five-piece sets became popular, the blue-and-white pieces were largely replaced by their polychrome (Imari) counterparts. (Hartog 1990, p.130, cat 158), (Jörg 2003/1, pp.259-260)

These type of large, covered jars may be considered as a form of Japanese 'Chinoiserie' for the European market. In Japan larger covered jars of this kind were called chinkô tsubo (aloe jar), presumably because aromatic substances such as wood were transported in these jars by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), from Southeast Asia to Europe. Shards of this type have been excavated on the site of the Dutch trading post of the VOC. in Nagasaki which are dated 1670-1700. (Ströber 2001, pp.156-157, cat. 69)

For identically shaped, sized, and decorated large jars, please see:

For an identically shaped, sized, and decorated large jar in the collection of Augustus the Strong in Dresden (registered under the number P.O. (Porzellan Ostasien) 9086), please see;

SKD Online collection, PO. 9086.

Condition: A firing flaw to the foot.

References:

Stamford 1981, cat. 121

Suchomel 1997, cat. 138

SKD Online collection, PO. 9086

Kyushu 2003, cat. 2528

Price: Sold.

2010932

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Object 2010932

Small oviform covered jar

Japan

1700-1720

Height 120 mm (4.72 inch), diameter 62 mm (2.44 inch), diameter of mouthrim 32 mm (1.26 inch), diameter of footring 38 mm (1.50 inch), weight with cover 161 grams (5.68 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 23 grams (0.81 ounce (oz.))

Small oviform jar on footring, wide upright neck. Domed cover with pointed knob on a domed base. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold. Around the foot and shoulder decorated with a continuous foliate scroll, on the body a, highly unusual, decoration of a temple complex within walls. Around the neck a pointed leaves pattern border in gold. On the domed cover a pointed leaves-pattern border in gold and a temple complex within walls. The base of the gold pointed knob is modelled after chrysanthemum. On the base a rectangular paper collectors label that reads: '5'.

This small oviform jar with cover was once part of a garniture which mostly consisted of three covered oviform-shaped jars and two cylindrical beaker vases with spreading mouths, all with the same decoration, They were very popular in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where they were used as decorative items in the interior. (Jörg 2003/1, p.259)

Condition: A firing flaw and a frit to the rim of the cover and a chip with two frits to the inner rim of the cover.

Reference:

Jörg 2003/1, p.259

Price: Sold.

Jörg 2003/1, cat. 191, 193 & 238

2010364

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Object 2010364

Small oviform covered jar

Japan

1700-1730

Height 123 mm (4.84 inch), diameter 62 mm (2.44 inch), diameter of mouthrim 35 mm (1.38 inch). diameter of footring 41 mm (1.61 inch)

Small oviform jar on footring, wide upright neck. Domed cover with pointed knob on a domed base. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with around the foot and shoulder a flowering prunus scroll border. In between both borders flowering peony, chrysanthemum and poppy plants and three hõ-õ birds in flight. On the upright neck and the rim of the cover a spiral pattern border. On the domed cover flowering peony and chrysanthemum plants. The base of the gold pointed knob is modelled after chrysanthemum.

Porcelain miniatures were popular in The Netherlands, where they were used to furnish doll's houses, which were not children's playthings but professionally furnished replicas of townhouses. In general, miniatures were included in groups of decorative porcelain placed on shelves, brackets and consoles in the Dutch interior, or in the porcelain rooms of the grand houses, such as those still in Pommersfelden and Charlottenburg. Germany. (Jörg 2003/1, p.190)

Condition: A small hairline to the rim and fine crazing to the glaze.

Reference:

Price: Sold.

Jörg 2003/1, p.74 & p.259

2010438

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Object 2010438

Beaker vase

Japan

1720-1750

Height 350 mm (13.78 inch), diameter of mouthrim 115 mm (4.53 inch), diameter of waist 63 mm (2.48 inch), diameter of footring 80 mm (3.15 inch)

Beaker vase of waisted cylindrical shape on footring, flaring rim and spreading lower part tapering to a takefushi-shaped foot. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with two groups of pierced rockwork with a fence and flowering peony plants. Around the mouthrim, two panels, filled with a shishi (Buddhist lion), a Japanese variant of the Chinese shi-tzu (Dog of Fo) standing in between foliage. The inside is undecorated.

The "Chinese lion" or kara shishi is supposed to be the Chinese conception of a creature never seen in China but told of by travellers or copied from the pictures from India as there are no records of lions in ancient Chinese writings before about 250 A.D. It is also called a Chinese Dog or Dog of Fo (Buddha) from which it is clear that dog-like characteristics prevail over the original leonine ones. The lion symbolizes guardianship and protection, from which belief is derived the practice of placing statues of lions at the doors of palaces and tombs as guardians of both the living and the dead against all evil. (Fitski 2011, p.160)

The shishi is characterized by a fierce expression, large bulging eyes and curly mane, a bushy tail and curly locks of hair on the legs. Japanese pairs of figures of shishi usually have both animals with an ornamental / brocade ball, whereas Chinese examples usually have one with a ball, the other (female) with a cub. It is clear that the shishi is no ordinary lion, but a mythical beast. It is probable that the lion in this mythical form came over from the Middle East as a guardian figure in Chinese pre-historical times. After the introduction of Buddhism, the shishi retained its function as a guardian, and pairs of these animals were placed on either side of the entrance of temples in China and Japan. (Arts 1983, p.110)

The shape of the bulging foot, which spreads and then turns sharply inward, is seen on many ewers of this period as well as on later jars, vases and other pieces. It is a distinctively Japanese feature, called takefushi, 'bamboo-noded' foot. (Jörg 2003/1, p.74)

Condition: Perfect.

References:

Price: Sold.

2010439

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Object 2010439

Beaker vase

Japan

1720-1750

Height 164 mm (6.46 inch), diameter of mouthrim 89 mm (3.50 inch), diameter of waist 55 mm (2.17 inch), diameter of footring 57 mm (2.24 inch)

Beaker vase of waisted cylindrical shape on footring, flaring rim and spreading lower part tapering to a takefushi-shaped foot. Imari decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with two large shaped panels, each filled with flowering plants and a flying butterfly reserved on a dark blue ground that has chrysanthemums outlined in red and foliage in gold. Round the mouthrim, four panels, two filled with a flowering chrysanthemum the other two with a single butterfly surrounded by four flowering branches. The inside is undecorated.

This beaker vase was once part of a garniture which mostly consisted of three covered oviform-shaped jars and two cylindrical beaker vases with spreading mouths, all with the same decoration, They were very popular in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where they were used as decorative items in the interior. (Jörg 2003/1, p.259)

In Japanese ceramic art the butterfly, chõ-chõ in Japanese, is associated with the peony flower and the Chinese lion. In Japan the white butterfly is considered to be the soul of the living or the dead. It is always treated kindly when discovered in the house for it may be a friend come to announce his death. Many legends exist about this belief. A famous one is that of an old man who was lying dying in his room when a white butterfly fluttered in. An attendant tried to drive it out to prevent it from waking the sleeper, after which the insect, followed by the attendant, flew directly to the nearby cemetery, where it lingered on a woman's tomb. After the old man had died it was discovered that the name inscribed on the tomb was that of the old man's fiancée, who had died on the eve of the wedding long ago. The old man had never married, but stayed true to her and visited her grave every day. When he became ill and could no longer go to her, she came to him in the form of a white butterfly. (Arts 1983, p.124), (Gorham 1971, p.200)

Condition: A shallow glaze chip to the footring.

References:

Gorham 1971, p.200

Arts 1983, p.124

Price: Sold.