• Japanese Kutani porcelain bowl – top view showing iron-red central medallion with gold floral motifs
  • Kutani bowl side view – geisha panel with pine tree and shoji screen in iron red and gold
  • Kutani bowl side view – landscape panel with bird in winter scene and yukiwa scatter motifs
  • Kutani bowl side view – parasol figure panel with blossoming plum and mon roundel
  • Kutani bowl – interior view from above showing full panoramic figurative scene and iron-red base medallion
  • Kutani bowl – close-up of interior base showing iron-red seal mark
  • Kutani bowl – close-up of foot ring showing firing flaw (kiln defect) and gilded base
  • Kutani bowl – detail of iron red and gold rim banding with striped decoration
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Maison de L'oro

Japanese Kutani Porcelain Bowl with Firing Flaw – Meiji Era c.1910

Japanese Kutani Porcelain Bowl with Firing Flaw – Meiji Era c.1910

€20,00 EUR
€20,00 EUR
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Let's address the elephant in the room — or rather, the tiny quirk in the foot. Yes, this Kutani bowl has a small firing flaw in its base. A little glaze irregularity that happened in the kiln around 1910 and has been minding its own business ever since. In the world of Japanese ceramics, this is called a kiln defect. In the world of interior design, it's called character. We prefer the latter.

Now that we've got that out of the way: this bowl is absolutely stunning. Classic Kutani-style decoration in the rich Meiji palette — iron red, gold, and polychrome — with three distinct hand-painted panels around the exterior. One shows a geisha in a traditional interior with a pine tree and shoji screen. Another depicts a figure in a landscape with a parasol and blossoming plum. The third panel features a bird in a winter scene. Between the panels, scattered gold snowflake-star motifs (yukiwa) float across a cream ground like they're having the time of their lives.

The interior is equally impressive: a deep iron-red medallion at the centre of the base, surrounded by the full panoramic scene visible from above — figures, landscapes, and mon roundels all competing for your attention. The rim is banded in iron red with gold striping. The foot ring is gilded. Even the firing flaw is gilded. This bowl does not do things by halves.

Details:

  • Origin: Japan, Kutani ware, Meiji period, circa 1910
  • Style: Polychrome overglaze enamel with iron red and gilt (aka-e / kinrande style)
  • Decoration: Figurative panels — geisha, landscapes, parasol figure; yukiwa (snowflake) scatter motifs
  • Dimensions: 16 cm diameter × 7.5 cm height
  • Weight: 340 grams
  • Condition: Antique — small firing flaw (kiln defect) in foot ring; no chips, cracks or repairs to body or decoration
  • Maker's mark: Iron-red seal mark on base

Perfect for: Dining rooms, display cabinets, or anywhere that needs a bowl with a story — and a very minor footnote.

⚠️ WARNING: The firing flaw in the foot means this bowl has been imperfect since 1910 and has absolutely thrived. Maison de L'oro accepts no responsibility for any existential crisis this may trigger in your other, more "perfect" ceramics. Side effects include a sudden appreciation for wabi-sabi and an uncontrollable urge to Google "Kutani marks."

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