A LARGE JAPANESE KUTANI DISH WITH MANDARIN DUCKS

A LARGE JAPANESE KUTANI DISH WITH MANDARIN DUCKS

EDO PERIOD, 18TH OR 19TH CENTURY

The foliate moulded dish elegantly decorated in polychrome enamels, the well with a central medallion enclosing the two birds surrounded by vegetation, one Mandarin duck with its head uplifted and the other pecking the ground, with small scrolling clouds above; bordered by an intricate band of red Y-shaped diaper; the reverse with three flowering prunus branches, a green and black fuku mark, 31.8cm.

Provenance: formerly the collection of Peter K Warren (1920-2014), former CEO of Pepsi International, purchased from Bluett & Sons Ltd, 10th March 1980. A copy of the original invoice is available. By repute, originally acquired by Bluett from Kenneth Robert Malcolm (1908-1984). According to R Davids & D Jellinek in Provenance: Collectors, Dealers & Scholars in the Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain & America, pp.306-308, K R Malcolm collected Islamic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean ceramics and donated pieces to the Ashmolean, the British Museum and the V&A. After his death, Bluett sold a number of his pieces to Sparks, and other pieces went to Sir Michael Butler, Anthony du Boulay, Professor Hall and George Wingfield Digby.