Lidded Fresh Water Container with Dragons and Flowers in Underglaze Blue 安南染付貼花龍文水指アンナンソメツケチョウカリュウモンミズサシ
Description
This fresh-water container (J., mizusashi) was owned by the Ôsawa family of Shimotoba, Kyoto. It is said to have been brought to Japan from Vietnam by Ôsawa Shirôemon Mitsunaka (?-1639), who was engaged in trading with Vietnam during the early Edo period (1615-1898). Mitsunaka sailed to Vietnam in 1633, and again in 1634, shipping goods from Japan. This work was likely brought into Japan on his return from one of these trips. The bleeding quality of the dye, a characteristic of Vietnam's Annan ware, gives this technique the name shiboride (tie-dyed glaze) in Japanese. In recent years, archaeological excavations in Sakai, Osaka, and Kyoto have turned up numerous examples of Annan ware from the 16th and 17th centuries, during which a substantial volume of ceramics was apparently imported from Vietnam.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
March 30, 2026