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Birdcage vase
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Description
About twenty of these bizarre ‘birdcage’ vases are known. Twelve are in Dresden, in the collection formed in the early 1700s by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. It is possible that they were made in Arita especially for him.
The vase was decorated in blue under a transparent glaze, but the central portion was left blank, then painted later with gold lacquer. A wire and lacquer cage was added, containing porcelain pheasants with wire legs standing on rocks made of lacquered wood. The flowers sprouting from the rocks are made of porcelain and the plant stems of wire wrapped in textile.
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › Japan › Kyūshū › Saga prefecture › Arita › Arita kiln-sites (place of creation)Europe (original location)Europe › Germany › Saxony-Anhalt › Dresden (Japanese Palace) (possible original location)
- Date
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early 18th century
Edo Period (1600 - 1868)
- Associated people
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probably Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (ruled 1694 - 1733) (commissioner)possibly Dutch East India Company (VOC) (retailer)
- Material and technique
- porcelain vase, with papier mâché, underglaze painting in blue, and overglaze lacquer decoration in gold; modelled porcelain pheasants, enamelled, and with wire legs; modelled porcelain flowers, with lacquered textile, and wire stems; models mounted on lacquered wood, inside a gilded wire cage
- Dimensions
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53 cm (height)
38 cm (diameter)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › gold,
- Technique index
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covered › metallized › gilded,
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Purchased with the assistance of the Story Fund, 1992.
- Accession no.
- EA1992.114
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Further reading
Impey, Oliver, Japanese Export Porcelain: Catalogue of the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2002), no. 152 on pp. 120-121, pp. 11, 119, 121, & 208, illus. p. 120
Glossary (4)
glaze, lacquer, porcelain, underglaze painting
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glaze
Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.
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lacquer
Chinese and Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the lacquer tree, which is indigenous to Eastern China. It is applied to wood as a varnish or for decorative effect. In India and the Middle East, lacquer is made from the deposit of the lac insect.
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porcelain
Ceramic material composed of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar which is fired to a temperature of c.1350-1400⁰c. The resulting ceramic is vitreous, translucent, and white in colour.
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underglaze painting
Painting applied to ceramic material before a transparent, or monochrome or coloured glaze for Islamic objects, is applied. The technique was initially developed in China.
Location
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Second floor | Room 37 | Japan
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Second floor | Room 37 | Japan
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
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