"Interesting Imari Vase. Japan. “kinrande” “gold Brocade” Style. Nineteenth Century."
Interesting Imari porcelain vase from the 19th century. Gold brocade in "Kinrande" exterior decoration and decorated with cobalt blue Japanese motifs on the interior. These porcelains have been manufactured since the 17th century in Arita, a city located on the island of Kyushu. The origins of these porcelains date back to around the 9th century, not in Japan but in China. This hard porcelain is produced by firing at very high temperatures. The white clay used, kaolin, contains a very specific mineral necessary for their production. At the time our vase was made, Japan was closed to the outside world, but the Dutch East India Company was responsible for exporting porcelain from Arita and its surroundings to Europe and South Asia. East. Shipped from the port of Imari, these porcelains took the name “Imari porcelain”*. The first Imari porcelains made in the first half of the 17th century featured simple designs called "sometsuke", which were colored only with indigo. Then, in the 17th century, "iro-e" patterns appeared using multiple colors such as red, blue, yellow, green and purple. The “kakiemon” style is characterized by the use of a milky white background with empty spaces to create various pictorial motifs. With the opening of the “land of the rising sun” to international exports during the Meiji Era (second half of the 19th century), artisans developed the “kinrande” style (gold brocade) with shimmering colors enhanced with gilding. Conversely, porcelain intended for the European market were large plates or vases used as objects of interior decoration in the castles. Today, Arita and Imari are still two major production sites for Japanese porcelain. 21 cm foot width 31 cm handle width