Dish with Sweet Osmanthus and Cloud

late 1600s-early 1700s

Dish with Sweet Osmanthus and Cloud, late 1600s-early 1700s. Japan, Edo period (1615-1868). Porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze color enamel (Hizen ware, Nabeshima type); diameter: 20 cm (7 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2017.63 The dish is an example of the finest type of early Japanese porcelain, Nabeshima-type Hizen ware. It is decorated with sweet osmanthus, or fragrant olive tree, with iron-red flowers and green and yellow enamels on the leaves. A band of misty clouds in underglaze blue completes the composition. The osmanthus tree was imported from China to southern Japan.