Fan-shaped Dish with Handle and Camellia Design

  • Edo perriod
  • 18th century
  • Kenzan ware
Fan-shaped Dish with Handle and Camellia Design

Fan-shaped Dish with Handle and Camellia Design
The word for fan, ogi, is thought to derive from a word for "invite" or "summon," and fans have long been regarded as objects capable of attracting and being inhabited by kami (spirits). They were believed to be able to repel the diseases common in summer and the insects that harm crops; their spiritual power summoned sound health and good harvests. The fan was also an auspicious motif expressing good luck and particularly, given its shape, increasing prosperity. That auspicious motif was incorporated in Kenzan ware as well.
The fan-shaped dishes in underglaze iron found in several collections may originally have comprised a set. White slip was applied overall before painting the camellia (sasanqua) blossoms and adding the poetic inscription. The "Shoko" and "Toin" seals have been applied in positive seal script. The bronze handle was added later.