Bottle with peonies and Chinese lion

This elegant, pear-shaped bottle features an auspicious combination of Chinese motifs— lush peonies and mythological lion-dogs—executed in red, blue, yellow, green, and black overglaze enamels. The technique of decorating porcelains by painting designs in multi-colored enamels over glazed, high-fired works was mastered in Japan only in the 1640s. Although also extremely popular within the country, many of these wares were intended for export to Southeast Asia and Europe.