Dish with garden scene

Round Kutani porcelain dish decorated with black, ochre, orange, blue, green and pink glaze on cover. A border decorated with geometric motifs and autumn maple leaves (momiji) delimits the central scene, which presents a group of women dressed in traditional kimono and obi, who walk through a garden with a pond, a bridge and a stone lantern or ishi-doro. Thus, we find in the decoration of this plate the image of the Japanese woman and the delicate beauty of nature, that is, the two great themes of Japanese art that most influenced the West in the so-called phenomenon of Japonism. The fascination for Japanese art or Japonisme spread throughout Europe from the end of the 19th century thanks to the collection of ukiyo-e prints, lacquerware, ceramics, fans and other objects. This demand favored during the Meiji period (1868-1912) the export of ceramics from potteries such as Kutani, Satsuma or Imari, which created productions to satisfy the growing Western taste for Japanese exoticism.Kutani, literally the Nine Valleys, is a town on the west coast of the province of Kaga (now Ishikawa Prefecture) in Honshu, the main island of the Japanese archipelago. Kutani was a prominent Japanese pottery since the mid-17th century, however, it was not until the second half of the 19th century that the great expansion of Kutani pottery activity took place, with potteries from neighboring towns joining in. From this moment on, thanks to the impulse of ceramists like Kutani Shoza (1816-1883), the most characteristic Kutani porcelain production was developed, decorated with cheerful polychrome glazes, with a pictorial style close to the colorful yamato-e and the popular ukiyo-e. / Bibliography: ALMAZÁN TOMÁS, D.: “Dish with a garden scene. Meiji Period (1868-1912). S. XIX. Japan”, in LÓPEZ GUZMÁN, R.; RUIZ GUTIÉRREZ, A.; SORROCHE CUERVA, M.A. (Scientific Coord.): Oriente en Granada (Exhibition Catalogue). Granada, 2008, pp.: 58-59.