coffee-pot
- Museum number
- Franks.493.A
- Description
-
Coffee pot. Scene of Seven Gods of Good Fortune enjoying picnic. Made of porcelain decorated in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels in green, red, brown, salmon pink, purple and gold in Imari style; with European metal spout.
- Production date
- 1700-1730
- Dimensions
-
Height: 42.80 centimetres
-
Width: 24 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Smith et al 1990
Although the shape is entirely European, the decoration is a cheerful jumble of the seven gods of good fortune, widely popular throughout the Edo period. They are figures of light-hearted amusement but had serious devotees, especially in rural areas. Ebisu, usually depicted together with a carp, was the patron of fishermen, while the other main deity, Daikoku, whose attributes are rice bales, rats and a magic mallet from which all sorts of riches shower, was to be found in the household shrines of farmers and merchants alike. The metal spout is a European addition fitted into the hole provided by the potter.
See also:
Jenyns, Soame, 'Japanese Porcelain', London, 1965, pl. 28a.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2006 13 Oct - 2010 26 Oct, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from prehistory to the present'
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased at auction, Christie, Manson & Woods, 9 February 1866 (lot 314).
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- Franks.493.A