Japanese armorial dish, c.1781-89, with Spanish arms
A very unusual Japanese porcelain 8¾" armorial dish, late 18th century, with border panels in the style of earlier Chinese Kraak porcelain, and a Spanish coat of arms in the centre held by a winged angel. The border of the dish with a shaped and barbed rim with an iron-oxide Fuchi-beni dressing. The arms are of de Castro impaling de la Cueva.
The armorial appears to derive inspiration from a very rare late 16th century Chinese plate for the Spanish market (see Canepa, op. cit. pp. 276-79) with the Kraak border design also copying the earlier Spanish dish. The heraldry and similarity of overall style indicate that it was almost certainly made for a much later generation of that family.
According to Oka Yasumasa (author of Hollandisme in Japanese Craftwork, Chapter 6 in Japan Envisions the Westop. cit. in References below) : "From the late eighteenth century until the middle of the next, Arita ware tea cups, bowls and plates offered many examples of foreign motifs applied to Japanese objects, and a significant number of these items are extant" (plates 103-105, including an example of this dish).
Other examples : * Kobe Art Museum in Japan (exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, 2007; see reference catalogue below) * Reeves Ceramics Museum, Washington & Lee University, Virginia * The Nantucket Historical Association, Massachusetts. * The Frelinghuysen Collection
References :: For another example of this Japanese armorial dish:
Shirahara [Ed], Japan Envisions the West; 16th-19th Century Japanese Art from Kobe City Museum, pl. 105, p.146 Macguire, Four Centuries of Blue & White: The Frelinghuysen Collection, p.330
For the original Chinese armorial dish of c.1600 with Spanish arms which relates to this Japanese dish:
Canepa, Jingdezhen to the World, No. 100, pp.276-279 Diaz, Chinese Armorial Porcelain for Spain, No. 3, pp.87-91
Condition : Very small chip from the brown edge, otherwise in excellent condition
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