A JAPANESE HIRADO TEA KETTLE AND COVER

A JAPANESE HIRADO TEA KETTLE AND COVER

MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY

Modelled as a minogame, the mythical creature standing four-square on short feet, the shell with a honeycomb pattern highlighted in underglaze blue, the seaweed trailing behind its back forming the handle, the lid topped with a small seashell, the seal mark to the base with three lines of characters, 22cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Joseph Gordon (d.1969), of Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh, and thence by descent.

See Los Angeles County Museum of Art, access. no.1997.273.36.1-.2, for another minogame-shaped ewer with flowerheads painted on its shell.