Page 35 - Mounted Oriental Porcelain, The Getty Museum

I. PAIR OF L I D D E D B O W L S

THE PORCELAIN: Japanese (Arita), late seventeenth century
THE GILT-METAL MOUNTS: English (London), circa 1680
9
1
HEIGHT: i ft., i /i6 in. (34.5 cm); WIDTH: i ft., 3 in. (38 cm); DEPTH: lo /6 in. (25.5 cm)
85.01.178. 1-.2,

DESCRIPTION bowl. On the sides of the bowl, gilt-metal cartouches are
These deep circular lidded bowls are painted with attached to these bands with pinned hinges. The car-
underglaze decoration in cobalt blue. The scene on each touches have mistakenly been mounted upside down. At
bowl and its lid shows a classical Chinese mountainscape each side of the cartouche are scallop shells flanked by
with houses, temples, and foliage veiled in mist. The cen- paired acanthus leaf scrolls. From the scrolls depends a
ters of the lids and the bases of the bowls are decorated beribboned wreath of bell flowers centered by a cluster
with a band of stylized chrysanthemum petals encircling of berries. Each scrolled handle supports a greyhound,
a band of lotus petals. The porcelain has not been cut its tail wrapped around its body and its neck craned to
or ground down. the side (fig. IB). The foot mount is decorated with op-
On the lid, a finial of four upturned oak leaves posed acanthus scrolls and leaves, held in at the cardinal
clasps the knop and a gadrooned band lined with styl- points by clasps. At the base is a gadrooned band applied
ized leaves is attached to the rim with clips. Pierced bands to a plain rim.
of larger stylized leaves encircle the lip and foot of the

FIG. IA

2,2