A Kakiemon ewer


Edo period (1615-1868), late 17th centuryThe broad ovoid body surmounted by a tall neck with pinched spout and loop handle, painted in coloured enamels with two panels, each enclosing two Chinese boys in a garden among flowering peonies and rocks, one holding a parasol and the other a fan, divided by a stylised chryanthemum; the neck and handle similarly decorated with other formal floral motifs. 22cm (8 5/8in) high.
|For an almost identical ewer in the British Museum, see John Ayers, Oliver Impey and J. V. G. Mallet, Porcelain for Palaces, The Fashion for Japan in Europe, London, The Oriental Society, 1990, p.141, pl.100. Another with a metal mount, in the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, is illustrated by Christian J. A. Jörg, Fine and Curious, Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, Amsterdam, Hotei Publishing, 2003, p.74, pl.60.