Octagonal jar with garden motif

This octagonal jar bears cobalt blue decoration of a garden with a rock, peonies, chrysanthemums, paulownia and phoenixes in its central part. The base is adorned with the geometric motif of an endless vortex. A band of stylized uchiwa fans grows out of this ornament. The body’s top ends with a chrysanthemum leaf with inner decoration of scrollwork and two types of blossoms on each side. The neck bears eight painted fields with regularly altering motifs of a peony twig and robe, umbrella and artemisia leaf, i.e. three objects related to the so-called “precious treasures”, which can also include the uchiwa fans painted in the lower part. The phoenixes depicted on the jar’s body were a popular motif with paulownia. The same jar can be found in the Arita Museum of History. (See Filip Suchomel – Marcela Suchomelová, Mistrovská díla japonského porcelánu, Praha 1997, p. 78.)