Imari porcelain gourd shape, Arita, Japan, Meiji Period.

Japanese Imari porcelain Carp dish, Arita, c. 1890, Meiji Period. The canted rectangular dish, moulded to the centre with a large carp, in low relief, hand painted in typical Imari c...

A Japanese Imari porcelain ‘Black Ship’ bowl and cover, Meiji Period. The bowl hand painted to one side with a large sailing ship with Dutch flags, whilst t...

Japanese Imari porcelain trumpet vase, Arita, c. 1700, Genroku Period. The tall octagonal vase, well painted with a crane flying before a ...

Japanese Arita porcelain barbers bowl, c. 1700, Genroku Period. Well painted in Imari colours, with an exuberant display of flowering plants, in a jardini...

Japanese porcelain ‘Black Ship’ shallow bowl, 19th Century, Meiji Period. The bowl, well painted to the centre, with a circular panel, containing a Dutch merchant ship, firing a cano...

Imari sake ewer and cover, Arita, Japan, c. 1700, Edo Period. The globular ewer, with an unusual continuous band of circular moulded bosses, and vibrantly p...

A fine & monumetal Japanese Meiji period Porcelain charger/plate, circa 1890. The charger is very finely decorated with underglaze blue, red iron oxide glazes and heightened with gil...

A fine pair of antique Japanese Imari porcelains demitasse coffee or tea cups & saucers. In the 'Black Ship' pattern. Decorated throughout with painted depictions of Western sailors and their ships in reds, blues, and greens with extensive gilt accents throughout. The centers of the cups and saucers each have a stylized gilt kanji for longevity (寿). The bases of both cups & saucers have apocryphal Chinese reign marks for the Ming Dynasty of the Chenghua period (太明成化年製). Black Ships (黒船, kurofune) was a name used for Western sea vessels arriving in Japan from the 16th - 19th Century. The name originated from the very first Portuguese vessels to trade with the Japanese ca. 1543 had hulls painted black. When the expedition of Matthew Commodore Perry in 1853 forcibly ended Japan's self-imposed isolationist sakoku (鎖国, lit. "locked country") period, his steam-powered warships inspired fear in the Japanese populace with their coal fueled black smoke. Subsequently, the Black Ships became symbolic of the end of Japan's isolationist period. Simply a wonderful set of antique Arita...

A brightly coloured Famille Jaune porcelain charger plate. Handcrafted in Japan around the end of the nineteenth century, during the Meiji era. The large decorative plate depicts a ...

Hand-painted. This is one of the largest decorative jars in Japan. The landscape painting style depicts a fantasy world with mountains, rivers, people, and houses, which was original...

A stunning collection of six (priced individually) Meiji period petal shaped Imari plates in the very best of condition. With an overall floral decoration in blue, orange and green c...

Large Imari Meiji period four panel charger entirely hand decorated. Two of the panels depict flying cranes amongst foliage. The remaining two panels are hand decorated with a floral...