A VERY RARE JAPANESE IMARI PORCELAIN COFFEE POT WITH COVER

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Edo period, early 18th century

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Ceramic decorated in iron-red, green, yellow, aubergine and black enamels and gilt on underglaze blue with two ho-ho birds amongst peony and pomegranate issuing from rockwork, the cover similarly decorated and surmounted by a knob finial, the loop handle pierced for a mount for the lid and decorated with a karakusa (scrolling foliage) and a flower head, the metal tap modelled as a mythical beast head is fitted to an opening above the base.

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H. 29 cm

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Note:

These conical-shaped coffee pots from Japan are based on models of Dutch late 17th-century copper or silver coffee pots. Most of these Japanese ceramic coffee pots have three feet to eliminate the disadvantage of the uneven base. The present one does not and therefore was probably intended to be put on a brazier or stand. Some were later mounted on

(gilt) metal feet in Europe.