Baluster-shaped vase
Unknown Artist
ca. 1690–1720
Medium
Porcelain
Dimensions
Overall: 23 1/2 × 12 1/4 × 13 in. (59.7 × 31.1 × 33 cm); Width at base: 6 in. (15.2 cm); Weight: 13 lb. (5.9 kg)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain-Export
Culture
Japanese, for export market (Hizen ware, Imari type)
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jane Hardesty Poole, 2019
Accession Number
2019.257.6a, b
Art Historical Context
This magnificent baluster-shaped vase, around 1690–1720 in Japan's Hizen province (now Saga Prefecture), exemplifies the renowned Imari porcelain produced at Arita kilns for the export market. Standing nearly two feet tall and weighing a substantial 13 pounds, its swelling form—tapering from a wide base to a flared neck—reflects a shape inspired by European metalwork, tailored to appeal to Western tastes. As a product of the Edo period, when Japan tightly controlled foreign trade through the Dutch East India Company at Nagasaki, this vase represents the height of Japan's porcelain export indus...