Courtesy of Stephen and Michiko Levine
Plates decorated with maps of Japan and surrounding territories are among the most unusual and striking examples of Arita ware pottery. First produced in the early nineteenth century, they appear to reflect a growing perception of the wholeness of Japan as a single entity and its place in the wider world, due in part to increased travel within the country during the Edo period. Such plates continued to be made into the early twentieth century, as with this example.
–Courtesy of Japan Society
Signature: Unsigned
