Japanese Kutani Dish Hand Painted with a Garden Scene in Iron Red

Kutani is one of the most collected of all Japanese porcelains, and this hand painted dish shows exactly why. Across its face a detailed garden scene unfolds in the rich iron red the ware is famous for, a figure at rest beside a red railed pavilion, a flowering tree, birds in flight and a stone lantern, all drawn by hand with fine, confident brushwork and lifted with touches of green and gold. Kutani painters traditionally filled the whole surface, and every part of this dish rewards a closer look.

It measures 22 cm across and 4 cm deep, a shallow dish that shows beautifully on a stand, as pictured, or laid out on a table. The base carries the hand painted red mark reading Kutani sei, made in Kutani, the traditional overglaze signature that marks it as a genuine piece of Kutani ware. It is in good order, with the fine crazing across the glaze that is normal and expected of a hand decorated piece of this age, a little honest speckling to the reverse and mellow gilding, all shown closely in the photographs.

Kutani ware has been made in the old province of Kaga, now Ishikawa, since the 1600s, prized for its bold enamels and its scenes of landscape, figures and the natural world. Iron red and gold pieces like this were made both for the Japanese home and for export, and they remain highly decorative and very collectable today.

Stand it on a shelf, a dresser or a mantel where the red and gold can glow, lean it on a plate stand as part of a gallery of ceramics, or bring it to the table for something special. It looks wonderful against wood and against blue and white china, and a single well painted Japanese dish adds instant character and a note of the exotic to a room. A lovely piece to collect, to display or to give.