Kutani [?] Bowl with Western Figures and a Galleon | ||
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Posted 8 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5042 items)
I picked this little bowl up today at Omega Salvage in Berkeley. There is a repair on it, but i thought the design was so interesting! i don't even know for sure that it's Kutani, but the colors remind me of it. Maybe it's Chinese?
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If we could see the bottom mark straight on, it might help us better in trying to ID this piece. Lovely bowl, though. [;>)
thanks Nevada. done!
thank you rucklczglass! apparently, my timing was good as the celebrations which are held commemorating the black ship are this weekend. that's what the firecracker on the base is all about. there is a lot of speculation and mystery surrounding the production of these 'black ship' pieces. this one is special because it has seven figures in the group. all the others i could find only had between 4 and 6. i think it's a very early one.
Just a note about the "attack on the Japanese Capital (Capitol) with their cannons by this American vessel":
Just for the record, Perry's "Black Ships" were anchored off Uraga Harbor, part of present-day Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture, where today's U.S. Naval Base is located. The capitol, then called Edo ~ present-day Tokyo ~ is located 45 miles to the north of Uraga Bay. Perry's "attack" consisted of blank cannon rounds fired off for show of power, which frightened the populace and the Japanese government so much that they relented their previous rejection to open trade between America and Japan. There was no battle nor fighting or anyone killed, on either side.
Just for the record. [;>)
Are you sure it's not Marco Polo? Those arn't American flag on that ship. The clothes they are wearing are older than America, aren't they?
Celiene makes a good and compelling point ~ not one American flag on the ship. Come to think of it now, Perry's Black Ships were steam-powered, not sail-powered ~ that's why they were called "black" ships. Good eye for detail, Celiene! Puts a whole different light on this bowl, doesn't it? [;>)
I think it's something Dutch maybe. Those pantaloons are WAY before 1853 style.
The USS Mississippi was a much more modern ship, too!
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-naval-steamship-uss-mississippi-flagship-of-matthew-perry-expedition-11073535.html
That ship looks more like The Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria era!
Yeah - it's more likely they are Portuguese or Dutch:
The Portuguese were by far the first europeans to reach Japan, in 1543. By 1571 the until then little town of Nagasaki, where the portuguese settled a trade post, was transformed into a major global outpost of the Portuguese Empire.
The portuguese had a great impact, both cultural and economical and opened up the until then almost unknown Japan to Europe. There is a type of specific japanese art, the Nanban paintings depicting the arrival of the portuguese ships and the "strange bearded white people", the portuguese.
Today the portuguese influence is still visible, there are aprox, 250 japanese words (tempura-tempero-seasonings, pan-pão-bread, korusu-cruz-cross, etc) that derive from the portuguese language, several japanese dishes like Tempura, several sweets who are adaptations of portuguese monastery deserts and especially the bread, introduced by the portuguese.
Also the first dictionary combining japanese and a european language was a japanese-portuguese-japanese created by a portuguese jesuit missionary).
The portuguese controlled the trade between Japan and Europe, creating the first sea route between them, for almost 100 years, from 1543 to 1639 when they were expelled from Japan, being replaced by the dutch who then took over many of portuguese possessions and trade posts in Asia.
Yeah - here's a Portuguese Trade ship circa 1589:
ALL trade ships were called Black Ships from the very first trade with Europeans. NOT just pERRY'S SHIPS.
http://www.worldheritageofportugueseorigin.com/2015/07/04/madre-deus-1589-portuguese-nau-carrack/
The Black Ships (in Japanese, ??, kurofune, Edo Period term) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries.
In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking Goa to Nagasaki. The large carracks engaged in this trade had the hull painted black with pitch, and the term came to represent all western vessels. In 1639, after suppressing a rebellion blamed on the Christian influence, the ruling Tokugawa shogunate retreated into an isolationist policy, the Sakoku. During this “locked state,” contact with Japan by Westerners was restricted to Dejima island at Nagasaki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ships
The USS Mississippi had a paddlewheel.
I'm not saying the bowl goes back to the 1500's, just what it is depicting is in the 1500's.
i believe the flag and the men on the rice bowl are dutch, but i'm not sure how this relates to the black ship celebrations... it's all very confusing, as were the incredibly fantastic views held by the Japanese of westerners and vice versa - for hundreds of years. that's what makes this rice bowl so interesting!
the dutch were the only nation allowed to regularly have commerce in Japan, and it was strictly regulated - from when the Portuguese left till Admiral Perry arrived.
The Japanese called ALL western trading ships 'black ships' because they were covered in pitch.
And yes - they must be Dutch because they are not bearded. And notice all the men in the background are wearing flowered gold jackets?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ships
It is the FIRST Dutch ship to reach Japan De Liefde! So itis depicting the 1600 arrival of the first Dutch ship!
http://culture.teldap.tw/culture/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=579:the-qde-liefdeq&catid=148&Itemid=209
for some reason, i cannot get your link to work Celiene.
Here's another picture with the flags etc.
http://www.archeonaut.nl/1189/trade-with-japan/
Although Captain WIlliam Adams was bearded!
http://www.youngsamurai.com/site/YOUN/Templates/GeneralUS.aspx?pageid=176&cc=GB
They are Shogun in the background...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Yoshinobu#/media/File:1867_Osaka_Yoshinobu_Tokugawa.jpg
I saw this bowl yesterday on the Japanese Collecting page on FB. Was it you that posted it there, ho2cultcha?
Here is the Tokugawa of 1600
http://www.gettyimages.com/galleries/search?phrase=Tokugawa+Ieyasu&family=editorial&specificpeople=5664318
I tend to take articles or manuscripts of Japanese history written by Western "experts" with a grain of salt, ~ more often than not they are riddled with inaccuracies ~ preferring instead to use Japanese-written texts and having my Japanese wife translate the Japanese into English for me.
I think I have to agree with Celiene and go with her Portuguese and Dutch theory. The ship and costumes depicted on the bowl just do not correlate with Matthew Perry and his steam-powered Black Ships of 1853.
It's unfortunate that are no "written" marks on the piece to help us to ID the bowl. The scroll on the bottom of the bowl could be either Chinese or Japanese, as both cultures used the same type, the Japanese borrowing from the Chinese as early as the Tang Dynasty ( 618 ~ 907). Without an identifying mark, I can't even venture to speculate whether this piece is Chinese or Japanese (or Korean, for that matter), nor even make a guess as to its age. I'll leave that to the ceramics experts here on CW. [;>)
Here are 1600 men's hat & hairstyles. Funny, they did not paint the men with facial hair on the bowl.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/299348706457014466/
The reason I mentioned this bowl being on the FB page is a lot of information was given there so most of you are going over the same ground. The bowl is Imari, Nanbanjin (Southern Barbarians), and the ship known as a carrack is flying a Belgium flag, possibly 1600s. What the experts didn't say there was era of production, if anyone cares to take a crack at that. :)
Even though the information may already be known to most, if not everyone, I would still like to share this so that there is no misunderstanding or misuse of the term: NANBANJIN was originally used to refer to non-Japanese ethnic groups living on the southern islands of the Japanese archipelago (primarily Shikoku and Kyushu). It was later used to refer to Westerners arriving in Japan from the south, first the Portuguese and Spanish, then later including the Dutch. The term NANBANJIN is no longer used in Japan in everyday speech to refer to foreigners, be they from the south, or wherever. The term GAIKOKUJIN (gaikoku = foreign country + jin = person) has been used since after the Second World War to refer to foreigners and non-Japanese. The condensed and informal term, GAIJIN, once more prevalently used, has now become more or less politically incorrect, having acquired derogatory meaning and bias, and is therefore rarely used today. [;>)
Not Belgium, Dutch. Different countries.
Ho2cultcha - which Link? You can just google the ship's name and see pics of it.
Not Belgium, Holland - the beginnings of the East India Trading Company.
NevasdaBlades - there was a piece on Japantown San Jose on the news yesterday. They are restoring the area! They just opened a new Senior Housing building.
http://abc7news.com/news/one-of-americas-oldest-japantowns-in-san-jose-gets-new-building-/1348983/
katherinescollections - which FB page? THere are several.
Celiene >>> Thanks for sharing the link re my hometown! San Jose's Nihon Machi (Japan Town) has undergone so little change or development in the last 50 years or so, it's good to see a new building go up, particularly for senior citizens. [;>)
what i got off the japanese pottery collector's fb page is that this is a 19th century Imari rice bowl with a decoration known as Nam'ban [an old word for foreigners].
Ho2 - cool!
Nevada - you are welcome!
thanks Celiene!!
Boy do I love the crowd at CW! Reading this exchange is like being a fly on the wall at a high-level university. And to think, I tumbled onto all this history because I thought the bowl looked cool. Thanks.
very cool comment Jean123! thank you!
nice piece and a strange discourse of the discussion
can,t break the rules about assesment so here is another way to make you happy
Schaal/kom - Porselein - Japanese - Black Ship and Namban design - Japan - Edo Periode (1600-1868)
lotnumer catawiki 52165309----- 30-10-2021 auctioned-- well done pete !
pissing against the wind plate see catawiki- lot NR. 52133773
Bord - Porselein - Japanese - Dutch three-master and traders - Lucky Dutchies - ‘Shipping plate’ - Jiajing mark - Japan - Edo Periode (1600-1868)
Zeer goede staat, zie beschrijving - 0×18.9×18.9 cm
Wordt vertaald door Google Translate
A lovely antique Japanese porcelain plate with a central decoration of Lucky Dutchies, sometimes referred to as ‘Shipping plate’: a Dutch three-master ship, besides a group of four Dutch traders with red curly hair (on the deck stands another Dutch merchant, possibly pissing into the wind). In the middle a character for good luck/fortune, with golden lining.
Executed in a nice underglaze blue and white with overglaze red, green, gold and black. Handcrafted in ancient Japan during the later Edo period (1603-1868, ca. 1840). On the backside a typical foot rim, marked with 6 (Chinese) character Jiajing mark (Chinese emperor during the Ming dynasty). Guaranteed original and of the stated period.
See also: a set of five bowls and covers of this type was sold at Christie’s on 21 may 2003 (auction 2584) for EUR 13.145,00 (lot 491)
Wow! Thanks for the information, aposta!