Important Cultural Property Tripod large dish with pine tree design, underglaze blue

This underglaze blue dish, product of the Nabeshima domain kiln at its peak, demonstrates the pinnacle of Nabeshima technical excellence and elegant, sophisticated style. The white porcelain body is of the finest quality. The dish is rather shallow and thinly potted, with a low foot with a bull’s eye pattern and three attached feet in the shape of chrysanthemum leaves. The bull’s eye shows marks of the spurs that supported it during firing. The pine tree design is superbly developed as it curves towards the rim, with considerable white space reserved in the center. The underglaze blue of the trunk and branches is flawless. The fine lines of the stylized clusters of pine needles were created by using the sumi-hajiki (ink resist) method to create negative spaces, with subtle shading at the edges, in a superb demonstration of exquisite Nabeshima workmanship. He underside has magnolias in a “broken branch” pattern.