Large Japanese Imari Charger 16″, Edo / Meiji Period, mid 19th century, Japan

The large porcelain charger measuring 16″ in diameter features high, sloped walls, and has been decorated in the traditional Imari palette of red, orange, blue, and green, with gilt highlights.

The design of the charger is centered around a large underglaze blue roundel with a dense design of scrolling lotus, a spot of speckled overglaze green enamel to the center, and surrounded bay an attractive blue and white geometric border with red ground reserves.

The walls feature four large reserves painted with alternating panels of Chinese style boys, and cranes flying over crashing waves.

The Chinese style boys are depicted playing in a fenced garden setting studded with garden rocks and large weeping willow branches overhead. The boys are dressed in traditional loose fitting robes, their hair styled in traditional fashion. A large ball that looks suspiciously like a basketball between them. The ball most likely represents a temari, a scrap cloth ball used of handball games.

The cranes fly amongst large clouds over green enameled waves, all within a nyoi (ruyi) shaped reserve against a red enameled ground with scrolling vegetal motifs.

A hanabishi patterned border decorates the rim of the charger.

The exterior of the charger features the same hanibishi border above a lyrical band of a meandering landscape with large plum blossoms and shells. A geometric stylized lotus petal border and a spiral whirlpool border below, all in underglaze blue, completes the design.

The underside plain, with five spur marks.