Antique Japanese Imari Blue White Porcelain Bowl Shanshui Landscape Late Edo 6.25"W

Japanese Imari blue and white porcelain bowl, shanshui landscape interior with karakusa cloud scroll border, wave exterior, late Edo period, c. 1850s

Japan, Arita; late Edo period, c. 1850s

A well-potted Imari blue and white porcelain bowl of sturdy form with gently flared walls and a slightly thickened rim. The interior is richly decorated in two registers: a dense karakusa (唐草) cloud scroll pattern fills the broad rim band in closely worked cobalt, while the central well carries a freely painted shanshui (山水) landscape — a gnarled pine at left, rounded boulders, a low pavilion at center, and distant mountain forms receding into the ground. A small character mark appears in the landscape field. The exterior carries bold crashing wave (nami) and cloud scroll motifs in vigorous cobalt brushwork, the design reading as confidently abstract when the bowl is viewed from the side. The foot ring is unglazed with the kiln grit characteristic of Edo-period Arita production. Base unmarked. A hairline visible in photographs does not pass through the wall of the vessel.

Imari ware (伊万里焼) takes its name from the port through which Arita porcelain was historically shipped, and blue and white Imari — sometimes called sometsuke (染付) — represents the workhorse production of the Arita kilns across the Edo period. Pieces decorated in this manner, combining landscape interiors with scrolling exterior motifs, were produced for domestic Japanese consumption across all social levels and represent some of the most honest and direct pottery of the tradition.

• Ware: Imari sometsuke (伊万里染付) blue and white porcelain
• Decoration: Shanshui landscape with karakusa border (interior); wave and cloud scroll (exterior)
• Period: Late Edo, c. 1850s
• Dimensions: 6.25" W × 2.5" H (16 × 6.5 cm)
• Condition: Hairline visible in photos — does not pass through vessel wall. Please see photos for details.