Plate with design of Chinese lion

Among the earliest enameled porcelains to be produced in Japan at the Arita kilns are known as Ko-Kutani ware. Most were large, impressive plates with bold designs in vivid glazes of deep aubergine, green and yellow. Ko-Kutani ware was exported to Indonesia in great quantities in the seventeenth century where it was highly prized. In the early nineteenth century this style of porcelain was revived in Kaga province by a family of sake brewers who named the kiln Yoshidaya after their sake business. This pair of dishes, with a lively pattern of playful lions, is an example of revival Kutani.