A RARE JAPANESE TEA BOWL FOR THE TEA CEREMONY

A RARE JAPANESE TEA BOWL FOR THE TEA CEREMONY, CHAWAN

EDO PERIOD, 17TH CENTURY

The tall U-shaped body of irregular shape with faint grooves to the surface and a slight depression to the side, decorated with a geometrical pattern of rhomboids enclosing foliage in low relief, possibly inspired by textile patterns, painted in gold and silver lacquer, purple, green and red on a black ground, the underside and foot left unglazed, the base incised with a mark for Ninsei, a paper label reading 'Yamashiro: Kioto... Ninsei', another 'Peer Groves Collection' and 'R. Soame Jenyns 7', 12cm dia.

Provenance: formerly in the collection of Major William Peer Groves (1878-1946) and then Roger Soame Jenyns (1904-1976).

Illustrated in R S Jenyns, Japanese Pottery, pl.94B, and discussed p.214.

Major Peer Groves (1878-1946) was the recipient of the Japanese Imperial Order of the Rising Sun and the Russian Imperial Orders of Vladimir and Stanislaus. A number of pieces from his collection are now at the British Museum and at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

ROGER SOAME JENYNS (1904-1976)

Roger Soame was an important scholar and collector of Chinese and Japanese art. After working for the Hong Kong civil service where he learnt Cantonese, he joined the British Museum, later becoming Deputy Keeper of the Department of Oriental Antiquities. Jenyns is also known for his seminal works on Chinese and Japanese art, including Later Chinese Porcelain (1951), Ming Pottery and Porcelain (1953), Wares of the Transitional Period between Ming and the Ch'ing 1620-1683 (1955), Japanese Porcelain (1965) and Japanese Pottery (1971), among others. Many Japanese pieces from Soame Jenyns's personal collection are currently on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.