Cake tray: wild orchid

early 18th century

Japanese, 1663 - 1743

Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743), is a renowned Edo period artist in the field of ceramics and painting. After studying under the direction of Kyoto ware (Ky-yaki) master Nonomura Ninsei-whose tea powder container is on display nearby-Kenzan built his kiln in 1699 at Narutaki in Kyoto.

A square shaped plate is his favored form, a unique style only found in Kenzan's and his successors' work, probably made as a set of ten or twenty. Bamboo, peony and wild orchid designs are depicted, along with poetry drawn as though on paper, an expression of his rich calligraphy, painting and ceramic techniques. It is thought that Kenzan was inspired by his older brother Ogata Korin, a famous Rimpa painter, and that they sometimes worked together on Kenzan's plates.

Ceramic with iron oxide glaze

7/8 x 5 3/4 in. (2.22 x 14.61 cm)

L.: 5 3/4 in.

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

52.165

Provenance: Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1952

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryKansas City, Missouri, Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum & St. Louis, Missouri, City Art Museum, Art of Japan in Edo Period, 1958.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Japanese Art of the S.A.M., 1960.

Japan House Gallery, New York, Rimpa Exhibition, 1971.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Tea House Gallery Installation, November 26, 2004 - January 30, 2006.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013.

Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch. Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 145b.

Li, Chu-tsing. "The Oberlin Orchid and the Problem of P'u-ming," Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Vol. 16 (1962): pp. 49-76, p. 69, 70; p. 69, fig. 18.

Nelson, Glenn. Ceramics, A Potter's Handbook. 1971; fig. 123, p. 67.

Stern, Harold P. Rimpa, Masterworks of the Japanese Decorative School.1971; ca. nos. 35-38

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