EDO PERIOD (LATE 17TH CENTURY)

Details

A KAKIEMON MODEL OF A SEATED Bijin
EDO PERIOD (LATE 17TH CENTURY)
The rare glazed white model decorated in iron-red, green, yellow, blue and black enamels and gilt, the kimono with various wave and floral designs, the undergarments with a diaper pattern, the stylilsed wood ground of the arm rest decorated in yellow and red
28.5cm. high

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Although other examples of this model are recorded compared to the standing figures very few are known. Two in the Victoria and Albert Museum, from the Collection of the late Sir Harry Garner, are published Oriental Ceramic Society, Porcelain for Palaces: The Fashion for Japan in Europe, 1650-1750 (London, 1990), no.166 and previously exhibited in the Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition, 1956, no.272 (see photograph) and illustrated R. Soame Jenyns, Japanese Porcelain (London, 1965), pl.63G.
A further example in the China Pavilion of the Swedish Royal Palace of Drottringholm is illustrated Ake Setterwall, The Kina Pavilion, (Fogelmarck, 1972), p. 174.
The model displays the early Edo change in the use of armrests (soku), which was originally a rich man's perogative used only by the members of the Imperial Court and feudal lords. During the Edo period (1614-1868), it came into widespread use in the entertainment quarters.

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