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1 of 253523 objects
Pair of beakers c.1690-1730
Porcelain painted in underglaze blue, overglaze enamel colours and gold | 36.5 x 19.0 x 19.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 26783
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A pair of Japanese Imari porcelain vases, of octagonal ovoid form. Sprays of peony, wisteria, chrysanthemum and plum blossom appear in fan-shaped panels around the sides of the jars and these matching beakers. Fans (ōgi) had been used in Japan since ancient times, and by the Edo period both paintings and lacquerware were produced in forms imitating their shape. These accessories – some so extravagant that they were proscribed by sumptuary law in 1701 – became easily recognisable symbols of Japanese culture in the West, and proved popular motifs on export porcelain. Decorated to match jars and covers RCINs 949.1-2 and 29673. Fitted as lamps.
Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume II and Japan: Courts and Culture (2020)Provenance
Probably acquired by George IV, 1804. Purchased from John Hall on 30 January 1804, Hall was paid for (among others): ‘2 superb Japan Jars & covers & 2 Beakers-- £33.12.-’, ‘3 do. [superb Japan Jars] Octn. do. [covers] 2 do. [Beakers] --£31.1.-’, and ‘3 do.[superb Japan Jars] round do. [covers] 2 do. [Beakers]--£26.5.-’(Royal Archives GEO/MAIN/26349), which may include these. Perhaps recorded in the Gallery at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, as ‘A Pair of very fine Octagon shaped Japan Jars and Covers, with Tar [Jar] and embossed flower Knobs, blue and gold flowers and festoons Vandyke bottom borders, twenty two inches [55.9 cm]’ (1829B, p. 45). Noted in the East Gallery, Buckingham Palace, in 1921 (1829B, p. 45). Recorded in the Holyrood 1978 Inventory, p. 9, nos 74–75.
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Creator(s)
(porcelain manufacturer)(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Porcelain painted in underglaze blue, overglaze enamel colours and gold
Measurements
36.5 x 19.0 x 19.0 cm (whole object)
Other number(s)
Place of Production
Arita [Saga, Japan]
