Object Number: Finch 303

Collection: Eastern Art

Object Name: Dish

Description: Dish of porcelain with a folate rim of eight flat lobes. Decorated in underglaze blue with a design of three peony heads with leaves and three stylised iris-like flowers in a self-contained circle in the centre. Surrounding this is a band of pale blue leaves on dark blue. In the outer border are branches of pine, bamaboo, and plum spreading over rocks and grasses. The underside is decorated with a continuous scroll. Within a large circle within the footring is a spiral fuku mark enclosed in a double circle. There are three spur-marks on the base. A note left by the collector, Irene Finch (1918-2019), reads: 'I mid 18. A7 3 86/141'. The pine, bamboo, and plum are known together as The Three Friends of Winter (sh?chikubai ???). They are plants that thrive even in the harshness of winter and represent steadfastness, perseverance, and resilience. Before it was adopted in Japan, it was a well-established subject for Chinese painters, emulating the ideal characteristics of a Confucian scholar-official. In Japan, The Three Friends are closely associated with the start of the New Year. This piece is mentioned in: Finch, Irene. (1997) 'The Lost Century: Japanese Arita Porcelain 1720-1820 in Britain' in Nguyet, Tuyet. (ed) Arts of Asia: Masterpieces of Japanese Art in the Kyoto National Museum. Vol. 27, No.4 (July - August). Hong Kong: Arts of Asia Publications Ltd. pp.64-75 (Figure 7, p.68)

On Display at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Eastern Art Gallery