Lot Essay
The ewer and basin follow the European type so closely that they may have been copied from a silver or pewter specimen such as those illustrated by Peter Thornton in Seventeenth Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland, Plates 29 and 309, while the Japanese lacquer artist has cleverly chosen native subject-matter which has water as its theme. On the subject of cleanliness in the 17th Century, Thornton quotes from a contemporary French book on etiquette, that "everyday one should take the trouble to wash with pain d'amande. It is also necessary to wash one's face almost as often."
He continues that "The ewer and basin necessary for this last operation are to be seen in many contemporary illustrations, often standing on the dressing-table. The same equipment was brought in at meal-times so that the diners could rinse their fingers. The staff were also expected to wash before the meal." In view of the large number of Europeans either living in, or visiting Japan during the 17th Century, it is remarkable that this appears to be the only known example of the familiar ewer and basin in Japanese export lacquer. By the century's close, the increasing use of the fork made ewers and basins unnecessary for use at table, although still found in the bedroom.
Since the ewer and basin appear to date from the latter part of the century, it seems reasonable to assume that they were produced for the Dutch rather than the Portuguese, but whether for the colonial or home market is difficult to say.
The helmet-shaped ewer is a form ubiquitous in 17th Century European silver and ceramics, and a Delft example of circa 1690 from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Courts and Colonies, the William and Mary Style in Holland, England and America, the Smithsonian Institution, 1988, Figure 192; in particular, it shows the handle of circular section so easily rolled out in clay, now faithfully copied in lacquered wood. The preceding example, Figure 191, shows a similar ewer, but with strap handle, in Chinese porcelain of the Kangxi period (1662-1722), the shape probably introduced into China through wooden models supplied by the Dutch East India Company, and appearing in Chinese ceramics as early as the 1630's.
The makie-shi responsible for the decoration of the ewer and basin has taken water as an appropriate subject, possibly of his own accord or perhaps at the suggestion of a Dutch client; the Otowa-no-taki waterfall is recognisable from the bamboo pipes through which the water flows, and was, in the 12th century, the subject of a poem by the retired Emperor Takaura-in. It is noted for its constant flow at all seasons, and presumably originates in a spring. Kiyomizu-dera was formerly known as Seisui-ji and is a district of Kyoto whose name means clear, or pure, water, while the other reference to water illustrates its cooling properties, where people alleviate the heat of the Japanese summer by relaxing on bamboo platforms built over water, in this instance an unidentified small river.
We cannot tell whether the symbolism of this decoration was recognised when the ewer and basin were at Petworth, nor do we know for certain whether they were recognised as Japanese, or simply listed as "China-work", a term recorded in 1692 at Kensington Palace and common to the period. Reference is made (Courts and Colonies p. 207) to the Duchess of Somerset, Chief Mourner at the funeral of Queen Mary II in 1694, having in her dressing room at Petworth an elaborate arrangement of porcelain, recorded in later eighteenth-century inventories, and the ewer and basin would have fitted well into any such oriental-baroque scheme of room decoration.
The ewer and basin seem rare, and the only other examples which have been traced in Japanese 17th Century export lacquer are those described by Martha Boyer, Japanese Export Lacquers from the Seventeenth Century in the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen 1959, Figures 5-8, comprising four basins, three circular and one octagonal, and four wooden jugs carved as elephants bearing howdahs, their raised trunks forming the spouts. They appear in Danish East India Company accounts from 17 September 1688.
Unique is rarely an accurate word and therefore seldom appears in art-historical studies; but the ewer and basin are at least remarkable survivals, and a suitable example for comparison has still to be located.
He continues that "The ewer and basin necessary for this last operation are to be seen in many contemporary illustrations, often standing on the dressing-table. The same equipment was brought in at meal-times so that the diners could rinse their fingers. The staff were also expected to wash before the meal." In view of the large number of Europeans either living in, or visiting Japan during the 17th Century, it is remarkable that this appears to be the only known example of the familiar ewer and basin in Japanese export lacquer. By the century's close, the increasing use of the fork made ewers and basins unnecessary for use at table, although still found in the bedroom.
Since the ewer and basin appear to date from the latter part of the century, it seems reasonable to assume that they were produced for the Dutch rather than the Portuguese, but whether for the colonial or home market is difficult to say.
The helmet-shaped ewer is a form ubiquitous in 17th Century European silver and ceramics, and a Delft example of circa 1690 from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Courts and Colonies, the William and Mary Style in Holland, England and America, the Smithsonian Institution, 1988, Figure 192; in particular, it shows the handle of circular section so easily rolled out in clay, now faithfully copied in lacquered wood. The preceding example, Figure 191, shows a similar ewer, but with strap handle, in Chinese porcelain of the Kangxi period (1662-1722), the shape probably introduced into China through wooden models supplied by the Dutch East India Company, and appearing in Chinese ceramics as early as the 1630's.
The makie-shi responsible for the decoration of the ewer and basin has taken water as an appropriate subject, possibly of his own accord or perhaps at the suggestion of a Dutch client; the Otowa-no-taki waterfall is recognisable from the bamboo pipes through which the water flows, and was, in the 12th century, the subject of a poem by the retired Emperor Takaura-in. It is noted for its constant flow at all seasons, and presumably originates in a spring. Kiyomizu-dera was formerly known as Seisui-ji and is a district of Kyoto whose name means clear, or pure, water, while the other reference to water illustrates its cooling properties, where people alleviate the heat of the Japanese summer by relaxing on bamboo platforms built over water, in this instance an unidentified small river.
We cannot tell whether the symbolism of this decoration was recognised when the ewer and basin were at Petworth, nor do we know for certain whether they were recognised as Japanese, or simply listed as "China-work", a term recorded in 1692 at Kensington Palace and common to the period. Reference is made (Courts and Colonies p. 207) to the Duchess of Somerset, Chief Mourner at the funeral of Queen Mary II in 1694, having in her dressing room at Petworth an elaborate arrangement of porcelain, recorded in later eighteenth-century inventories, and the ewer and basin would have fitted well into any such oriental-baroque scheme of room decoration.
The ewer and basin seem rare, and the only other examples which have been traced in Japanese 17th Century export lacquer are those described by Martha Boyer, Japanese Export Lacquers from the Seventeenth Century in the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen 1959, Figures 5-8, comprising four basins, three circular and one octagonal, and four wooden jugs carved as elephants bearing howdahs, their raised trunks forming the spouts. They appear in Danish East India Company accounts from 17 September 1688.
Unique is rarely an accurate word and therefore seldom appears in art-historical studies; but the ewer and basin are at least remarkable survivals, and a suitable example for comparison has still to be located.