Description

Chinese porcelain blue and white miniature shonzui type censer painted with three roundels of pine, willow and three birds in flight, all on three different geometric grounds of cash, wan character, and scales beneath a band of key fret, the inverted lipped rim with ruyi head scrolls on a blue wash ground.

2 ¼ inches, 5.7 cm diameter.

Chongzhen, 1628-1644.

Wood box.

Condition

Available on request.

Provenance & Additional Information

  • Published by S. Marchant & Son, Ming Porcelain for Japan, 2008, no. 28.
  • This piece arguably belongs to the family of wares known as shonzui, there is little agreement as to the origin or significance of the term, but it appears to encompass a number of well made pieces produced in China for the Japanese market. Such pieces are deemed to have some or all of a number of characteristics, including interesting forms, good geometric motifs, and medallions. A hariki decagonal dish painted in the centre with 23 roundels, several with willow, birds and identical wan character ground as one of the panels was included by S. Marchant & Son in their exhibition of Two Hundred Years of Chinese Porcelain, 1552-1722, June 1998, no. 44, p. 59.
  • Openwork silver metal cover with flower heads and four character signature Chiku ei do zo, “Chiku ei do” studio, reputably one of the most famous metalwork aterliers of the Meiji period.
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