Page 285 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

Hi Dishes decorated with map scenes The stylized islands are set within a
Large dish with map of Japan and date primarily to the late Edo period. sea of wave patterns. "Great Japan"
surrounding countries This large dish has a six-character (Dai Nippon) is written in the center
mark in the footring reading "made in of the main island, and the cities of
c. 1830/1843
Edo, Kyoto, and
Osaka are
highlighted.
Hizen ware, Koimari style the Tenpó era" (1830 -1843). The piece The domains are not separately de-
the
from
is possibly
Tataranomoto
Porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue kiln, where similarly patterned sherds
7
Diameter 48 (i8 /s) were excavated. The plate was made lineated, but a white Mount Fuji can
clearly be seen
on the main island,
The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Saga
in a mold, but the cobalt blue lines along with Lake Biwa and three
• A large horizontal map of Japan on do not correspond exactly with the mountain ranges. The exterior dis-
the interior of this dish is framed by molded contours. Like the maps on plays a simple wave pattern, which
two large flying cranes and six cloud similar dishes, this one is done in a plays against the islands and water
284 bands surrounded by islands and style developed by Gyôgi Bosatsu, an design on the interior to make the
partial landmasses, all labeled. The eighth-century wandering Japanese dish itself into an island.
northern section of the main island monk, who is credited with drawing
of Honshu is foreshortened, and the the first map to rely on conceptual A new awareness of the outside world
a concomitant growing sense of
and
northern island of Hokkaido is only distances rather than cartographic
partly depicted. Lake Biwa is clearly verity. NCR nationhood, perhaps encouraged by
sightings of American and Russian
visible in the center of the main ships, made such dishes attractive to
island, and Mount Fuji is drawn as a consumers. Large plates of this kind
large outline. Contiguous boundary 142
lines define each domain, and dis- Large dish with map of the world were originally made for the domestic
found at the
market; similar sherds
tances between the domains and the and distances from Japan Kamanotani kiln site in Arita suggest
amount of rice that they produced are
often noted. The cities of Nagasaki, c.1830/1843 the origin of this porcelain, marked was
Hizen ware, Koimari style
"made in the Tenpô era." The dish
Kyoto, Osaka, Sakai, Edo, Oshu, Mimai- Porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue formed in a mold, with molded relief
ya, and Hakodate are indicated. 3
Diameter 52.8 (20 A) lines, but the cobalt blue painting
The last two cities were relatively The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Saga does not align precisely. NCR
small at this time but might have
been included because a ferry ran • Although geographically accurate
from Mimaiya (in northern Honshu) maps of the world were made in
to Hakodate (in Hokkaido). The most Japan in the second half of the Edo
important cities are connected by period, deliberate distortions were
major highways. The four landmasses made in cartographic designs on
shown surrounding Japan are — porcelain dishes, made in quantity
in clockwise order from the top — in the Tenpô era. What appeared to
the Land of the Dwarves, the Land be important was the relationship
of Women, the Ryukyu Kingdom between Japan and other countries,
(Okinawa), and Korea. particularly with regard to conceptual
distances. Japan was placed reassur-
The exterior of the dish is decorated ingly at the center, surrounded by
with a wave pattern (carrying over water and islands and various land-
the motif of the ocean from the masses. Revolving around Japan
interior of the dish), and a simplified (not overly enlarged) on this dish
lotus motif encircles the footring.
are South and North America, Korea,
Russia, China, India, and Europe.
Imaginary lands are depicted as well:
those of dwarves, white people, black
people, and women. The distances
from these countries to Japan, mea-
sured in ri (i ri = 3.9 km), are written
in a cartouche to the right of Japan.