Antique Japanese Meiji Black Ship Imari Porcelain Cup Saucer

A fine pair of antique Japanese Imari porcelains demitasse coffee or tea cups & saucers. In the 'Black Ship' pattern. Decorated throughout with painted depictions of Western sailors and their ships in reds, blues, and greens with extensive gilt accents throughout. The centers of the cups and saucers each have a stylized gilt kanji for longevity (寿). The bases of both cups & saucers have apocryphal Chinese reign marks for the Ming Dynasty of the Chenghua period (太明成化年製). Black Ships (黒船, kurofune) was a name used for Western sea vessels arriving in Japan from the 16th - 19th Century. The name originated from the very first Portuguese vessels to trade with the Japanese ca. 1543 had hulls painted black. When the expedition of Matthew Commodore Perry in 1853 forcibly ended Japan's self-imposed isolationist sakoku (鎖国, lit. "locked country") period, his steam-powered warships inspired fear in the Japanese populace with their coal fueled black smoke. Subsequently, the Black Ships became symbolic of the end of Japan's isolationist period. Simply a wonderful set of antique Arita...

A fine antique Japanese Imari porcelain bowl. With a white ground. Central to the bowl is a stylized Shimazu clan crest (家紋, lit. family crest) within a black and red circle that is...