   Hizen ware: jar Covered jar, of fine old Hizen porcelain, richly decorated with medallions, filled with landscapes executed in cold-toned blue, and placed upon a characteristic ground-work of flowers and foliage in colours and gold. The general design and treatment of this beautiful piece are unusual in the works of the old Hizen period; and it will be observed that it presents striking points of difference from other specimens. The design throughout displays a slight leaning towards Chinese Art, the landscapes in the medallions being very similar in drawing to those continually met with in old Chinese blue and white porcelain. There is very little doubt that the Japanese artists, during their commercial relations with the Dutch East India Company, saw and copied many works of Chinese production, brought before their notice by the Dutch merchants. While the piece is unmistakably Japanese in fabrication, it bears strong evidence of being designed in a style suggested by some work of Chinese Art. The porcelain is of fine quality, and carefully manipulated, but, like the generality of the vases and jars of this period, it bears no mark. Height: 23¼ inches. Lithograph, by Bauer, published 1875. |
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