Lot Essay
Published in Richard Cleveland, 200 Years of Japanese Porcelain (City Art Museum of St. Louis, Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, 1971), no. 58, p. 78
Ko-Kutani ware is prized for its rich, dark enamel colors and its bold designs. Examples such as this which use green enamel are called Aode or "Green" Kutani. The Rockefeller shallow bowl counts as a masterpiece of its type. Vine, gourds and leaves create a fluid, rhythmical pattern perfectly harmonized with the circular shape of the bowl. A striking feature of this lush design is the impact of the white reserve patterns against a yellow ground densely covered with small black circles.
Kutani is said to have been produced during the 17th century at kilns in Kutani village in Daishoji fief, now in Yamanaka-cho, Ishikawa prefecture. Based on the evidence of three surviving written records, only one of which is roughly contemporary with Ko-Kutani production, the Kutani kiln began operating around 1655. The founder of the kiln is thought to be the metalsmith Goto Saijiro. Three old kiln sites have been discovered and they were excavated between 1970 and 1974. Because there were almost no enamelled sherds found at these sites, there is ongoing scholarly debate as to the place of origin of Ko-Kutani ware. The term Ko-Kutani (Old Kutani) is used to distinguish 17th century pieces from those produced at the Yoshidaya kiln in Kutani in the 19th century. Some scholars believe that white porcelain products were shipped by sea to Kutani village from Arita in Hizen province, Kyushu, which was the center of porcelain production in the 17th century. According to this theory, the distinctive enamel designs were painted onto Arita-ware porcelain bodies after they arrived in Kutani. This would account for the fact that there were few enamelled sherds found at the Kutani kilns. The thickly applied Kutani enamels have been compared to the enamels on Kyoto-ware pottery, a possible source of influence.
For a similar design with leaves in white reserve and green enamel against a yellow ground covered with black circles, see Yabe, Ko-Kutani ten (Yokohama: Kanagawa Shimbunsha, 1991), color plate 54; for a very similar decoration of black and green swirl patterns on the underside of a round dish see Sensaku Nakagawa, Kutani Ware (Tokyo, New York and San Francisco: Kodansha and Shibundo, 1979), no. 104. Other Aode-Kutani dishes sold in these rooms include: Sale no. 6796, April 20 & 21, 1989, lots 327, 328; and Sale no. 6900, October 17, 1989, lot 445.
Ko-Kutani ware is prized for its rich, dark enamel colors and its bold designs. Examples such as this which use green enamel are called Aode or "Green" Kutani. The Rockefeller shallow bowl counts as a masterpiece of its type. Vine, gourds and leaves create a fluid, rhythmical pattern perfectly harmonized with the circular shape of the bowl. A striking feature of this lush design is the impact of the white reserve patterns against a yellow ground densely covered with small black circles.
Kutani is said to have been produced during the 17th century at kilns in Kutani village in Daishoji fief, now in Yamanaka-cho, Ishikawa prefecture. Based on the evidence of three surviving written records, only one of which is roughly contemporary with Ko-Kutani production, the Kutani kiln began operating around 1655. The founder of the kiln is thought to be the metalsmith Goto Saijiro. Three old kiln sites have been discovered and they were excavated between 1970 and 1974. Because there were almost no enamelled sherds found at these sites, there is ongoing scholarly debate as to the place of origin of Ko-Kutani ware. The term Ko-Kutani (Old Kutani) is used to distinguish 17th century pieces from those produced at the Yoshidaya kiln in Kutani in the 19th century. Some scholars believe that white porcelain products were shipped by sea to Kutani village from Arita in Hizen province, Kyushu, which was the center of porcelain production in the 17th century. According to this theory, the distinctive enamel designs were painted onto Arita-ware porcelain bodies after they arrived in Kutani. This would account for the fact that there were few enamelled sherds found at the Kutani kilns. The thickly applied Kutani enamels have been compared to the enamels on Kyoto-ware pottery, a possible source of influence.
For a similar design with leaves in white reserve and green enamel against a yellow ground covered with black circles, see Yabe, Ko-Kutani ten (Yokohama: Kanagawa Shimbunsha, 1991), color plate 54; for a very similar decoration of black and green swirl patterns on the underside of a round dish see Sensaku Nakagawa, Kutani Ware (Tokyo, New York and San Francisco: Kodansha and Shibundo, 1979), no. 104. Other Aode-Kutani dishes sold in these rooms include: Sale no. 6796, April 20 & 21, 1989, lots 327, 328; and Sale no. 6900, October 17, 1989, lot 445.