The covered box of waisted oblong quatrefoil form painted with a spray of chrysanthemum within a border of flower heads on a blue ground, the lower section with a continuous bamboo stem.
Boxes of this type are rare and were made for the domestic Japanese market, they were not intended for export however a few did arrive in Europe in the late 17th century, acquired as exotic curiosities.
The Residenz Munich
It is interesting that of the few examples of this form recorded in Europe most seem to be in important German princely collections. A pair of such boxes with gilt-metal mounts, perhaps French, dating from around 1700 are in the Wittelsbach collections in the Residenz, Munich, (published by F. Ulrichs (2005) p. 55). An example from the collection of Sibylla Augusta von Baden-Baden in Schloss Favorite (p59, p 66, p160, no134) (I am grateful to Dr Ulrike Grimm for bringing this to our attention) . Another example lacking its cover is in the collections of the Landgraves of Hessen-Kassel (p. 463, no. 239).
Christian Jörg illustrates a further example in the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden noting that covered boxes are almost unknown in Dutch collections.
Condition:
One 6.5 crack and another smaller in lid stabilised. These appear to be original stress cracks and it has not been apart. Overall craquelure.
References:
Christiaan J. A. Jörg, Fine & Curious: Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (Hotei publishing, 2003), p. 134, no. 142
Friederike Ulrichs, Die ostasiatische Porzellansammlung der Wittelsbacher in der Residenz München, (Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung, 2005)
Professor Ohashi, The Complete Catalogue of the Shibata Collection, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, 2003), p. 148, nos. 1126 & 1127
Porzellane die blau-weissen asiatischen Porzellane in Schloss Favorite bei Rastatt, (1998), p59, p 66, p160, no134
‘Porzellan aus China und Japan : die Porzellangalerie der Landgrafen von Hessen-Kassel’, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel (1990), p463, no 239
This item is sold
