Dish with dragon

Unknown

1680–1700 · Hard-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type) · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The motifs of this Kakiemon-style dish are drawn from a Chinese vocabulary of symbols and natural motifs that was widely used in Japanese decorative arts. The circular dragon at the center is a "water dragon," a salamander-like form of this imaginary beast auspiciously associated with water. The motif appears on export porcelain after the late seventeenth century.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1680–1700

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over transparent glaze (Hizen ware; Kakiemon type)

Culture

Japanese, for European market

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995