A bowl of exceptional quality in the Akae Kutani style of decoration with a central dragon curled around the well of the bowl and geometric patterns decorating the sides of the bowl.  The outside of the bowl has also been decorated with a pattern of hanging pendents joined with chains.

Akae Kutani style, or the Iidaya style was first developed round 1830 at a time when Chinese aesthetic sensibilities were quite the rage in Japan.  This new style with red and gold designs was introduced by a master craftsman named Iidaya Hachiroemon.

This example is exceptional in its precision, quality and detail.  Indeed its a museum quality piece.

Please take a careful look at the photographs remembering that this bowl is just under 18 cm in diameter at the rim.  

It is marked on the base with the common Kutani mark.  "Kutani"  translates as "Nine valleys" and you can see the mark is of two characters, the top character being for the number nine and the bottom beng a pictogram of a mountain.

Usually either side of the mountain there are two dots, but In this example the dots have been drawn a little bit like horns curving upwards.

In looking at other examples it seems that this character had small upward slanting lines or dashes in the earlier 19th century examples where as later we just see dots.  So this is a possible indication that the bowl is from the 19th century, and considering the quality possible still within the life time of Iidaya Hachiroemon himself.

Although this does not carry the mark of Iidaya Hachiroemon, or a signature mark, the quality suggests an earlier date possibly around 1850.

This is just my view and its is very hard to date.  But what is not in debate is the exceptional quality of this piece, a quality which it is very hard to find.

Makers marks:
On glaze red "kutani" mark

Dimensions:
179 mm diameter at the rim and 56 mm tall

Weight:
520 g

Age:
19th Century

Condition:
Excellent condition

Maker:
Japanese Kutani porcelain