A Japanese Arita blue-and-white porcelain bottle with the initials RW
Arita, late 17th century
A bottle with a bulbous body and tapering neck of blue and white porcelain, not decorated except for the initials R:W, inside a wreath.
H. 24.1 cm
Exhibited:
Kyushu Ceramics Museum, Arita, 1990, no. 84
Provenance:
Collection of Hioshi Shindo (1945-2019), Japanese diplomat and academic who lived in Indonesia and collected specifically Japanese porcelain from Hizen during the Edo period (1603-1868)
Bottles like this one exist in various sizes and sometimes bear initials of known or (yet) unknown individuals. For instance J:C, standing for opperhoofd Johannes Camphuys (see: Uit Verre Streken, November 2015, no. 44) or I:V:H, Joan van Hoorn, Governor General, 1704-1709 (see: Uit Verre Streken, March 2020, no. 50), L:V:R, standing for Lambert van Riebeeck (see: Uit Verre Streken, October 2016, no. 65), or P.VD possibly standing for Pieter van Dijck, secunde in Japan in 1690 (see: Uit Verre Streken, November 2023, no. 84).
There is also an Imari bottle with the letters RW inside a simple circle and without the dots between the letters, possibly standing for Rheinland Wine (see: Uit Verre Streken, March 2023, no. 59). R:W, with the dots between the letters and inside a wreath are the initials of a person, in this case probably of Richard Woodward or Richardus Woodwart the younger, ondercoopman, negotieboeckhouder and secunde on Deshima, appointed by opperhoofd Hendrik Dijckman as temporary opperhoofd in Deshima on February 13, 1699, in Dijckman’s place while he himself was on his way to the court to Edo.
A bottle with a bulbous body and tapering neck of blue and white porcelain, not decorated except for the initials R:W, inside a wreath.
H. 24.1 cm
Exhibited:
Kyushu Ceramics Museum, Arita, 1990, no. 84
Provenance:
Collection of Hioshi Shindo (1945-2019), Japanese diplomat and academic who lived in Indonesia and collected specifically Japanese porcelain from Hizen during the Edo period (1603-1868)
Bottles like this one exist in various sizes and sometimes bear initials of known or (yet) unknown individuals. For instance J:C, standing for opperhoofd Johannes Camphuys (see: Uit Verre Streken, November 2015, no. 44) or I:V:H, Joan van Hoorn, Governor General, 1704-1709 (see: Uit Verre Streken, March 2020, no. 50), L:V:R, standing for Lambert van Riebeeck (see: Uit Verre Streken, October 2016, no. 65), or P.VD possibly standing for Pieter van Dijck, secunde in Japan in 1690 (see: Uit Verre Streken, November 2023, no. 84).
There is also an Imari bottle with the letters RW inside a simple circle and without the dots between the letters, possibly standing for Rheinland Wine (see: Uit Verre Streken, March 2023, no. 59). R:W, with the dots between the letters and inside a wreath are the initials of a person, in this case probably of Richard Woodward or Richardus Woodwart the younger, ondercoopman, negotieboeckhouder and secunde on Deshima, appointed by opperhoofd Hendrik Dijckman as temporary opperhoofd in Deshima on February 13, 1699, in Dijckman’s place while he himself was on his way to the court to Edo.
Part of the Japan collection.
