A Massive Antique Japanese Arita Porcelain Plate by Kajiwara Kiln

On offer is a truly impressive blue and white porcelain plate of the Hizen ware, from Arita in Japan, circa mid to late-19th century. The plate was made by Kajiwara Kikujiro (菊次郎, the second Kiku son) or Kajiwara Kikusaburo (菊三郎, the third Kiku son who died in 1883) of the Kajiware Family Kiln of in Arita. It was decorated in a superb design with blue under-glaze, clearly out of a hand of a master. In a Classic Japanese composition that was popular in the Meiji Period, the plate displays a riot of auspicious elements, arranged still in a surprisingly harmonious manner. Anchoring the center of the design is an eagle perched on the branch of a blooming cherry tree, its talons clenching the bark and its wings about to open. The motion of the its immediate taking off is palpable. The trunk and the branches of the old cherry tree provide a spacial frame for the arrangement of large peonies with foliage, bundles of chrysanthemums, Chinese bell flowers, as if it were a naturally formed Ikebana. Other grasses and flowers swaying in the breeze and a pair of bird in flight add more motion to the otherwise the picture of a still moment. A porous scholar rock on the bottom edge completes the composition as a visual counterpart to the gnarled cherry tree trunk. The expertly appointment of the different shade of the blue created such sophisticated and delicate details that it appears to be realistic and three dimensional.
The border of the plate is richly decorated with the Chinese inspired scroll design. On the back, three bundles of the chrysanthemums bundles are found. On the bottom, there is a blue signature "Kiku" "菊". which means chrysanthemum and is also the first part of the given name of the potter. It is found together with a plague with a series number. We cannot be certain the plate was made in the hand of Kikujiro or Kikusaburo, but it was a likely a collaboration of the family members.

Reference: "The Kajiwara family, founded by an artist of that name, about 1680. — Of late years the Kajiwara experts have been famous for the production of monster plaques. Kajiwara Kikujiro manufactured a plate four feet in diameter in 1866. His son, the present representative, is scarcely less skilled".
Book: JAPAN Its History Arts and Literature Volumn VIII Ceramic Art, by Frank Brinkley (1841-1912) , page 115.