An Arita underglaze blue and white porcelain covered bowl

Edo Period, circa 1670 AD, Japan

Height (incl cover): 34 cm, 13.4 inches Diameter: 31 cm, 12.2 inches

The bowl with steep sides rising from a raised foot rim, the cover of domed form surmounted by a finial modelled as a seated shishi. Decorated in various shades of underglaze blue in the Kano style, with a continuous scene depicting a mountainous landscape with pavilions and pine trees, at the base a band of lappets, the cover similarly decorated.

This type of covered bowl was made for export and used in the West as a covered tureen.

Similar Examples

Bowls of similar shape and decoration are illustrated in Christiaan J. A. Jörg, Fine & Curious: Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, Amsterdam, 2003, p. 170-171, no. 203, 204.

Also, ‘Ko-Imari porcelain from the Oliver Impey collection’, Barry Davies London 1997,figure 25.