Plate with samurai. Porcelain. Possibly Imari, Japan, nineteenth century.
With marks in the base.
Deep enameled ceramic plate decorated with a composition of blue on white on the outside (three phallic birds of six tails alternating with simple floral compositions, and with two stripes above and below) and multicolored inside (a procession with an important samurai or shogun, accompanied by a few soldiers, traveling through a natural landscape with flowers, rocks and tree branches, and a series of areas enhanced with a particular background of geometric elements, birds and clouds in a striking tone, the composition is framed by a band with a zigzag line and floral elements in the triangular spaces it leaves, a strip similar to one of the outside of the piece).
The composition of the interior, as usual, is reminiscent of details of both Japanese ceramics and the ukiyo-e world: the flag or banner carried by one of the soldiers has an emblem (also present in some of the important rider's clothes, the which carries arrows, bow, etc.) reminiscent of some Japanese "mon" (Tosa clan, etc.), the figures, their armor ... Also, it is possible to appreciate details of Chinese ceramics, porcelain and art (rocks, motifs, etc.), among which we should highlight the base brands, more similar to examples from the Ming Dynasty of the Chenghua period than to Japanese works contemporary to the piece.
In the West, it is known as "porcelain of Imari" to a production usually decorated with bright colors made in Arita for export in large quantities, especially between the second half of the seventeenth century and the first of the eighteenth century, although trade continued until, even, the twentieth century. The name is due to the port of Imari, from which the pieces were sent to Nagasaki, where the Dutch Company of the East Indies and China had commercial posts; in the West, the pieces of colors used to be called "Imari", others were known as "kakiemon", and the ones decorated in blue and white "Arita". Normally, the blue goes under the glaze, and other details (red, gold, black in contours, etc.) are added over the glaze (sometimes the different decoration styles on the glaze of Kakiemon and Kutani are also included within the ceramic or porcelain "Imari" -in the Western sense of the term-). Their popularity caused them to be copied both in China and in Europe (Delft in the Netherlands at first, then, designs and colors "Imari" and "Kakiemon" were taken as inspiration in early orientalizing pieces produced in Meissen or Chantilly, and then in Vincennes , Vienna, etc., it is also worth noting the early 19th century production of Robert Chamberlain's Worcester porcelain, and the Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Compani, where Imari-style designs are still popular today; also teachers like Cornelis Pronk and his designs of Chinese influence, or the arrival of ukiyo-e to Europe)."
· Size: 62x62x9 cms.
ANTIQUES
