This is the excellent work of gosu-akae with a lion motif as a popular subject. The milky white porcelain is decorated with fiery red as the base color, along with green and blue, and the stylish brushwork is captivating. Free spirited and unpretentious style was popular among tea masters. Works with similar designs can be found at the tokyo national museum and the idemitsu museum of arts.
⇒ Tokyo National Museum（The External Link）
- Period
- Ming Dynasty
Early 17th century
- Weight
- 1,270g
- Diameter
- 33.3cm
- Height
- 7.2cm
- Bottom Diameter
- 17.2cm
- Description
- Old Wooden Box
Acrylic Dish Stand
- Condition
- Good Condition
There is no rubbing of the red painting or peeling of the colored glaze, and it still retains its beautiful appearance. Due to the firing process, some of the glaze has simmered, giving it a gray color, but since this is gosu-akae, which finds beauty in its roughness, this can be considered acceptable.
Gosu-akae refers to the overglaze enamels porcelain that were fired at the zhangzhou kiln in china, mainly during the late ming dynasty. The style is said to have been developed from the ko-akae and kinrande of the jingdezhen kiln.In europe and the united states, it is called “Swatow Ware” after its export port, shantou port in guangdong province.
Lion is said to have the power to ward off evil, and famous examples include the “Karajishi-Botan”, which combines a lion with a peony, and the “Tamatori-Jishi”, which shows a lion playing with a jewel. “Peony and Lion” refers to a good combination.
The vivid red color accentuates the milky white porcelain.
“Akadama”, with its red round design, was popular among japanese tea masters.
One of the characteristics of the pottery is that it has sand attached to the bottom because it was fired with sand laid down on it. Japanese tea masters found natural elegance in the coarse taste.
The work with a similar design is in the collection of the idemitsu museum of arts.
Gosu-Akae
Gosu-akae refers to the overglaze enamels porcelain that were fired at the zhangzhou kiln in china, mainly during the late ming dynasty. The style is said to have been developed from the ko-akae and kinrande of the jingdezhen kiln. Basically, blue and white is not used, and a thick milky white devitrified glaze is applied inside and outside. The overglaze is based on red, with green and blue added, and the relaxed depiction gives a sense of style. On rare occasions, the red bead design is overlaid with gold leaf. One of the characteristics of the pottery is that it has sand attached to the bottom because it was fired with sand laid down on it. There are also examples of compositions depicting japanese characters for “Tenkaichi” and arabic characters, indicating that the main commercial areas were southeast asia and japan. Among them, gosu-akae is preferred and prized in japan, and japanese tea master especially value the tamatori-jishi bowl and sakigakede bowl.
Gosude
Gosude refers to the crude porcelain that were fired at the zhangzhou kiln in china, mainly during the late ming dynasty. Works such as gosu-akae, gosu-sometsuke, and mochihanade are known, and the main trading area was southeast asia and japan. In europe and the united states, it is called “Swatow Ware” after its export port, shantou port in guangdong province. The most likely theory is that during the edo period, southern china was called “Go” so it came to be called “Gosude” meaning pottery from southern china.