Late Meiji Japanese Kutani Porcelain Daruma | Bodhidharma Okimono

Dimensions: 8-0”h

This gorgeous Japanese Kutani porcelain Okimono and made in the image of Dharma/Bodhidharma from Arita, now Saga prefecture. The figure is draped in a long flowing Kutani rust-colored robe with Cowl (hood), in a stylized yellow, turquoise, and purple cloud motif interspersed throughout the garment and with celadon undergarments (all of the standard five colors, blue, green, yellow, purple, and red. He is holding a gold and black Ruyi Nyoi Scepter, (a curved decorative object that serves as a talisman symbolizing power and good fortune in Asian folklore) in his right hand. He has delicately detailed whiskers and chest hair, with a gold earloop in his large and exaggerated left ear. His facial details are wonderfully executed and very expressive. Unsigned.

The Daruma is the founder of Zen Buddhism and is traditionally used in Japanese culture to symbolize one’s goals, actions, and outcomes.

Condition:  Excellent with no chips or cracks or fading of colors. Kutani has been passed onto generations because of its significance and expressive porcelain colors.

NOTE: Kutani ware, with the name “Old Kutani” (Ko-Kutani), refers to porcelain decorated with heavily applied overglaze enamels and produced in the Kaga mountain village of Kutani. The powerful Maeda family had established a kiln there by 1656. The clay bodies used were gray and coarse-grained. On most pieces—dishes and bowls were especially common—a white or blue-white matte glaze was decorated in dark, restrained colors, initially greens, yellows, and some reds, and later purples and dark blues. Some items had cobalt blue decorations under a white glaze. The most noted Old Kutani pieces are “Green Kutani,” in which most of the surface is covered in a green or blue-green glaze to which one or two colors have been added (or the glaze is applied evenly over a design executed in black). The bold designs of Kutani ware drew freely from Chinese ceramics, paintings, and textiles. They are renowned for their rich pictorial ornament executed in lively, intense lines and colors.