Page 282 - Chinese Porcelain Vol II, Galland

KAKIYEMON.
378
decorated as the front, with of flowers
sprays finely painted
in bright enamels. The border on the rim, as seen in the
is a sort of salmon-colour with white
photograph, arabesque
work, relieved by slightly tinted foliage. The four birds are
in red, and the flowers in various colours. The dragon in the
centre forms a circle.
No. 650 a Chinese
represents plate. Diameter, 13f inches ;
height, 2 inches. No mark, and is decorated in what is known
as the Kakiyemon style. It probably belongs to about the
The bands on the rim are in
Yung-ching period. key pattern
blue under the the rest of the decoration in
glaze, being gilt
and red. In the centre the decoration is in blue and green
enamels with aubergine, red, and gilt.
With regard to Nos. 648 to 650, Mr. Winthrop writes as
"
follows The little bowl a
octagon appears charming speci-
:
men, in the real Kakayemon taste, while the whole decoration
of the octagon plate is Chinese, unless, perhaps, the four sprays.
It may be a matter of opinion as to the superiority of the later
work of this artist. The of the little bowl is individual,
design
while that of the from Chinese
octagon plate is literally copied
work, all except the sprays of conventional flowers that recall
the designs of Kakayemon, such as we know them. The
photograph is most interesting."
The redecoration on the bottles, Nos. 421, 422, is considered
by Japanese to be the work of Kakiyemon, but if he died before
1690 it is difficult to believe that this can be the case, as the
bottles themselves would seem to belong to the last half of the
reign of Kang-he. Unless the Japanese place his death at too
early a date, it is equally unlikely that he ever painted the
plate No. 649, the mark on which, unfortunately, does not carry
conviction, and we are forced to the conclusion that we must
look the name as that, not so much of an
upon Kakiyemon
individual as of a school whose work was contemporaneous with
that carried on in China the and
during Kang-he Yung-ching
periods.