Kakiemon ware porcelain bowl

From Japan
Edo period, early 18th century AD

Plum blossom

This symmetrical hexagonal bowl may have been used for serving fruit. Kakiemon is a type of porcelain from Arita in north-western Kyūshū. This bowl is a fine example of nigoshide, an opaque milky white body which sets off the colours of the painted design, especially the kaki, or persimmon red, said to have been developed by the potter Sakaida Kakiemon from 1643. The design of plum blossom runs across the eight sides rather as the same design might be placed across a folded screen

L. Smith, V. Harris and T. Clark, Japanese art: masterpieces in (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)