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ARITA, HIZEN PROVINCE [JAPAN]
Jar and cover
Jar: 1690-1720, mounts:1780-1820Porcelain with moulded relief decoration and painted in underglaze blue, red enamel and gilt, mounted in gilt bronze | 35.0 x 21.0 x 23.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 39239
Japanese porcelain was often transformed in Europe by the addition of extravagant gilt-bronze mounts. These mounts were intended to harmonise with fashionable, gilded interiors and sometimes completely altered an object’s function. This jar was adapted in France in the eighteenth century for use as a pot-pourri.
