Pot with the Initials L. G.

The initials L.G. refer to the unknown, likely European, client who commissioned this bottle. The vessel was produced in the Arita region of western Japan. Before it was fired, an artist painted the initials and surrounding floral motifs with a brush, using a blue pigment made of cobalt oxide. The finished bottle would have left from the port of Imari, headed for Europe on a ship probably controlled by the Dutch East India Company.