An extremely rare mid 17th century Early Enamelled (iroe) Arita Ko-Kutani type non-biscuit (namagake) leaf moulded porcelain dish enamelled with a single deer at the edge of a forest with its gaze turned towards the sunset, the reverse superbly modelled as a leaf with naturalistic veining and footrim formed as a twisted twig
 
Arita kiln, Early Enamelled ware, Ko Kutani type or an early enamellers workshop, Hizen province, Japan
early Edo period (mid 17th century)
circa 1640s-50s
 
Decorated with a lone male deer enamelled in deep aubergine with black outlining, beneath a curved tree enamelled in aubergine with green leaves at the forests edge, perched atop a deep yellow enamelled rocky cliff with green vegetation, the design featuring a superb asymmetrical use of blank space, epitomizing the Japanese Beauty of Emptiness (yohaku no bi). The reverse revealing an absolutely superb and naturalistically modelled rendition of the underside of a leaf, with the footrim in the form of a twisted twig.
 
The coloured palette of iron-red, deep yellow, rich aubergine and brilliant green with black outlining is traditionally associated with the early enamelled wares of the town of Kutani. Though it was previously thought that this type of Japanese porcelain was made at the Old Kutani kilns in Enuma County, it is now accepted that this thinly potted shallow circular bowl was made in the middle of the 17th century in the Arita kilns. We can now call this type of early Japanese porcelain "Arita porcelain of Ko-Kutani type".
 
With a Japanese paulownia wood storage box and ribbon tie.
 
Measurements
16.4 cm long, 3.0 cm high
 
Condition
In very good original condition with small original firing fault to the edge at 2 o'clock; two miniscule hairlines to the edge.