Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 11. (Budapest, 1968)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Cseh, Éva: Some Early Imari Porcelains

Fig. 1. Jug, Imari, end of XVII

th centuryjug a figurative ornamenting can be seen : Chinese-like figures of a man and a woman with fans in front of a stylized fence. The drawing is not detailed. On the right and left of the figures there are plants : bushes with large leaves, bamboo, artificial rocks. There is a line of motifs reminding ju-i above them. On the handle we find tendrils and claspers. The glaze is full of small bubbles, it has a greenish-blue colour where it is thicker. The foot is glazeless. The colour of the cobalt is a little stained violet-blue. A hole for strenghtening the lid can be seen on the handle. The form of the jug is European, pieces with similar handles ending in a spiral can be seen at Volker

4 on 33 — 35 pictures. The ornament reminds the style of the dishes of the Chinese "Transitional" period, although the forms are simplified. In any case the brush-strokes are characteristic of the early pieces. The pieces introduced by Volker were made between 1660 and 1680. The next jar

5 which can be classed among the early pieces is the typical representative of the group both in form and ornament (Fig. 2). The body is stocky with a short and wide neck. It is decorated by under-glaze blue, aboveglaze red and gold enamels. The ornaments on the body and on the shoulder are separated by wide under-glaze blue contours. Both on the shoulder and on the body we find the same motif in two fields : in one of them there is a phoenix in sketch with out-stretched wings above stylized rocks and chrysantemums, in the other a vase on a stand with a peonia bouquet in it. The fields on the shoulder are decorated with different flowers. The colours on the lid differ somewhat from those on the jar, it is not sure whether they belong together. There is a tall onion shaped button painted brown on the top of the lid. The glaze is greyish, on the lower parts it is yellowisch and strongly crackled, the cobalt is greyish-blue. The jar gives a rather rough impression. Taking the 4 Volker: Porcelain and the Dutch East India Company, 1602 — 1682. Leiden 1954. 5 Inv. Nr. 53.722. Height: 17 cm.