Page 84 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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21 • This remarkably refined tripod dish "path"; and lian means "lotus," which
Footed bowl with heron and lotus design is a testimony to the quality control is a homonym for "upward." Thus the
of cobalt blue design at the official combination means "May your path
1690-1720 always be upward."
Nabeshima ware Nabeshima kiln. The shapes of the
Porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue three herons are executed in a flawless The design on the exterior is of three
Diameter 28 (n) fluid line, while the cobalt wash that magnolia sprays. The three glazed
The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Saga makes up the background is perfectly feet are nyoi-shaped (based on a Bud-
Important Cultural Property even in tone. The three herons are all dhist instruction wand), and traces of
in different poses, one seen from the the small spurs used as firing tools
front, one from the rear, and one from can still be seen on the unglazed
the side. The last is standing on one bull's-eye-shaped footring (twenty
leg and has its mouth open as if calling marks on the outside of the footring,
to other birds. and fourteen on the inside). NCR

The design of a heron and lotus has a
specific meaning in Chinese: lu means
"heron," which is a homonym for