9727 A large Japanese Arita bottle vase, with fine Dutch decoration, figures in a pavilion, the reverse with a large vase with flowers and birds, the neck decorate with putti and traditional lappet bands.
Japanese.
1660-1700.
Height: 15.75 (40 cm) SOLD
Description
A rare example of the redecoration of a Japanese Ko-Imari bottle vase, the original blue landscape design has been entirely overpainted with a lavish scheme of Chinoiserie figures in complex interiors on one side, and a magnificent still-life vase of tulips and carnations with birds and butterfiles, on the other.
This decoration in iron red and gilt would have been painted in a Delft pfactory and then re-fired in a low temperature kiln to fix onto the original glaze. A risky process considering the intrinsic value of the Japanese vase in its own right.
The design of the still-life could have been copied from print designs of J-B Monnoyer which were published in both Paris and Ansterdam between 1680-1695 and widely circulated. The quirky, tumbling angels in the neck decoration seem to derive from Dutch religious prints. Overall, a marvellous mixture of sources and themes, we can only guess what the orginal Japanese potter would have thought at this European improvement on his beautifully simple vase!
