Japanese Kutani Porcelain Leaf Shaped Dish Bids and Flowers Meiji c 1880

A Japanese Kutani porcelain dish beautifully hand painted and a highly collectable decorative antique. Decorated in the traditional iron red style called aka-e kinran-de ( 赤絵 金襴手 ).

The dish which is generally of a leaf shape with a pointed handle and shaped foot rim has been finely hand painted in enamels with profuse gilding. The main design structure is painted with a central large ornately shaped cartouche with branches, flowers, grasses and flying birds.

The rim has a cloud scroll shaped iron red border pattern with gilding including a scroll incorporating a gilded Chinese Pheonix, Feng Huang 鳳凰  or HoHo bird. The remaining space is filled with iron red enamel with gilding in cloud scrolls and gilded stylised leaves and flowers. The underside of the rim is also hand painted with flowers, grasses and flying birds.

The dish is marked in iron red enamel on the base in kanji characters, the last one of which is quite difficult to decipher, we think it states 九谷製  , Kutani sei, which translates as Kutani Made. Kutani-yaki is a type of ware sometimes known as  再興九谷 saikō-Kutani made in the nine valleys in the Hyōgo Province, on the island of Honshu, Japan.

This dish dates from the late 19th century circa 1880, from the Meiji period (1868-1912) . 

The dish is approximately 11 inches (28 cm) long, 9 3/8 inches (23.8 cm)  wide and 1 7/8 inches ( 4.8 cm) high. It weighs 894 grammes unpacked.

It is in good antique condition with a repaired break to the handle and a "restored"  chip to the rim at the six o'clock position. it has some minor glaze rubbing from being stacked and wear to the gilding  Please see the images and description.

This is a highly collectable and decorative items and great for display on its own or as part of a collection antique Japanese porcelain or Kutani-yaki.