1800's Two Ko-Imari Teacups 鳳凰 Houou Phoenix Bird Karakusa 蓋付き碗 Futatsuki Wan Pair Lidded Bowl 茶碗 Chawan Cups Porcelain Meiji Japan Free S&H

Two beautiful PHOENIX BIRD WITH KARAKUSA TAIL FEATHERS SOMETSUKE FUTATSUKI WAN (lidded teacups)!

Sometsuke with eye-appealing dark and blue contrasts! The scene depicts a Phoenix Bird in flight with her long tail feather streaming gracefully behind her. Her tail feathers are in a stylized pattern of "karakusa" arabesque curlicues.

The other side is painted in what I believe to be branches of the Paulownia/Princess Tree. Also known as the Empress Tree, came by way of the Dutch. The Czarist Princess Anna Pavlovna married the future William II of the Netherlands, then Prince of Orange. Her Dutch version of her name became Paulownia, which she didn't care for at all, nor the casual relationship her Dutch subjects espoused accustomed as she was to the formal court in Russia. Though haughty, she won the love her new subjects with her work during a disaster when the dikes failed. A Dutch biologist named the tree in her honor. The Paulownia tree became a tradition in Japan that when a daughter was born, a Paulownia Tree would be planted. When she was to be married, the tree was cut down and made into a hope chest as part of her dowry. Japanese artisans, farmers and anyone who used sharp tools favor the wood for boxes to store the sharp metal tools. This wood doesn't release a gas that other woods do that dull sharp metal tools!

The box is not original to these tea bowls. They're a prop for the photos. However, if you desire the box, I can include it, but it will increase the shipping charge because of the additional size and weight.

These lidded bowls are multi-functional depending on your need or creative use for serving hot tea, broth, appetizers, rice, finger bowl, nut bowl or a dessert surprise! These are a bit larger than my other Japanese tea bowls/cups...specs below.

PHOENIX (t: 鳳凰, s: 凤凰; fènghuánɡ) - virtue, duty, correct behaviour, humanity, reliability (the Five Human Qualities), strength, resilience, good fortune, opportunity, luck, considered to be the most important of the winged animals, yin energy of yin - yang
KIRI 桐 - Royal Paulownia Tree - Princess Tree - Empress Tree - : named after Anna Pavlovna Grand Duchess of Russia and by marriage, became Queen Consort of Holland.
KO-IMARI - "early/old" Imari
SOMETSUKE - blue under glaze high fired porcelain
FUTATSUKI-WAN 蓋付き + 碗 > having a lid + porcelain bowl

PIC 5 - are Two Ko-Imari Sometsuke "Good Fortune Bats" Teacups marked Kenryu-nen-sei >

https://www.etsy.com/listing/246145507/1700s-two-koimari-rn-fu-sometsuke

I have several Japanese Antique Teacup Sets...please have a look in my shop >

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GuamAntiquesNstuff?ref=hdr_shop_menu&search_query=japanese+teacups

Searching for that PERFECT STATEMENT BOWL or an accent piece? Please visit my shop selection that includes Delft, Fukagawa, Koransha, Famille Verte, Famille Rose and more! >

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GuamAntiquesNstuff?section_id=17107846

This would be great housewarming or birthday gift!

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PHOTOS - integral to description, please use zoom feature for detailed views.

MARK - none

SPECS -
- these two bowls are slightly different in size by about half an inch in both height diameter. Just the reality of handmade items. You could view it as a "man/woman" set, but it's a bit subtle for that.
BOWL - about 5"D x 2.5"H
LID - about 5"D x 1.25"H
Lid in Bowl = 3.75"H

CONDITION - Excellent!
- no hairlines, cracks, chips or crazing
- there are numerous glaze pops, tiny specks of glaze skips and flea-sized carbon spots, all kiln-related
- the bowl rims have tiny frits here and there
- the smaller of the two, the lid is too tight, it fits if lowering at an angle and then it slides into place. The lids are a perfect match in pattern and hue, they belong to each other.

MY SUBJECTIVE GRADING GUIDE >

Outstanding - pristine, like new
Excellent - excellent considering it's an antique (minor issues)
Good - moderate issues
Fair - more than moderate issues, okay for display, but not a prized piece
Poor - major issues = a bargain deserving of continued existence

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🌺 HÅFA ADAI from the tropical island paradise of GUAHAN (Guam/USA) 🌺

"Porcelain production began in Japan in the early seventeenth century, several hundred years after it had first been made in China during the Tang dynasty (618–906). This refined white ceramic requires more advanced technology than other ceramic types. The vessels are fired at very high temperatures so that they are strong and vitrified, as opposed to low-fired earthenware, which is porous and easily breakable. Unlike stoneware, which is high-fired but can be made from many different types of clay, porcelain is made from a specific clay mixture that includes a soft, white variety called kaolin. The smooth, semi-translucent surface of porcelain is ideal for painting delicate designs, and has been prized in both the East and West.

The Japanese porcelain industry was actually pioneered by Korean potters living in Japan. Many of them came to Japan during two invasions of Korea led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1590s. An appreciation of Korean ceramics had recently developed in Japan, and many of the feudal lords who accompanied Hideyoshi brought back Korean potters to build up the ceramic industry in their territories. The Nabeshima lord took Korean potters back to his province of Hizen on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands. These potters would eventually become the first producers of porcelain in Japan, but they started out by reviving the production of a type of stoneware called Karatsu ware. This type of ceramic is usually simple, inexpensive, and made rapidly but skillfully on the potter's wheel. The potters also introduced a new type of kiln to Japan, the noborigama, or climbing kiln, which allows for greater precision during firing. Therefore, when in the early seventeenth century the Korean potters living in the Arita district of Hizen found suitable clay for the manufacture of porcelain, the infrastructure for its production was already in place. The Hizen region thus became the major center of porcelain production in Japan.

The first porcelain made in Japan by these Korean potters is known as early Imai. "Imari" refers to a port near the Arita kilns, from which these wares were shipped to the rest of the country. Since these porcelains were primarily for domestic consumption, the term "early" is added to distinguish them from later wares also classified as "Imari" which were typically for export. Most early Imari pieces feature designs painted in cobalt blue on a white ground, then coated in a transparent glaze, in the style known as underglaze blue. The porcelain has a coarse, grainy texture and the designs are generally carried out by a free, fluid hand. The technique of painting pictoral designs under a clear glaze was sometimes employed on Karatsu ware, so early Imari may have in part stemmed from this earlier tradition."

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I'm not an expert on Porcelain. The information above is based on my research as a collector. It's time to downsize and find an appreciative home for this exquisite piece!

Feel free to contact me if you have questions or need additional photos.