Pair of Japanese Blue and White Ewers with European Over Decoration

10334 A pair of Japanese blue and white ewers with English or Dutch over-decoration, the flared necks with shaped square handles and straight spouts, the flattened bodies decorated with birds in flower bushes in Imari palette, the bases with a pseudo character mark. One neck rim restored.

 

Japanese, European over-decoration

1800-1820

 

Height: 8.5 ins (21.5 cms)                                           £1,800

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Description

The practice of overdecorating Chinese and Japanese porcelain probably began in Holland in around 1700 and resulted from an abundance of plainly decorated or blank imported pieces. The pottery centres of Delft, Makkum and Rotterdam had many talented ceramic decorators and it is likely that the practice began in these places and were then resold in Amsterdam and given the nickname of Amsterdam Bont (Amsterdam coat/covering).

The greatly increased value of coloured pieces which could be passed off as ‘oriental’ meant that this was a considerable business and particularly successful in the imitation of fine Japanese Kakiemon enamels. The quality of these early pieces of 1720 meant that they were largely unchallenged until the 20th century and are now collected in their own right.

The Imari design seen on this unusual pair of ewers belong to a later period, around 1800-1820. The decoration, which follows the underglaze blue pattern, is bright and colourful and appealed to the tastes of Regency England. It is possible that these ewers were decorated in London, very much in the taste of the Staffordshire porcelain companies of Miles Mason and Spode who were manufacturing dinner services and domestic stoneware inspired by this Imari craze.

The decorators marks under the foot of our pieces are a European version of a Japanese seal mark and quite possibly intended to deceive potential Regency buyers. Interestingly, Miles Mason used a version of this square mark on many of his ‘Imari’ ware pieces 1800-1813 and quite possibly he was using these overdecorated English or Dutch pieces as his original ‘Japanese’ patterns. Mason had married into a family business of ceramic importers and understood Oriental and European products well and it is even possible that he was connected with the overdecoration market prior to the growth of his successful manufacturing enterprise.

Pair of Japanese Blue and White Ewers with European Over Decoration