Ceramics & Porcelain

5 pieces in this section

Porcelain and ceramics, identified the way collectors and museum curators do it: by body, glaze, decoration and marks. We start with Japan, from the Arita kilns to Imari export wares. Begin with antique Japanese porcelain, then the guide to Imari ware.

Chawan: a Black Raku tea bowl, hand-molded earthenware with an opaque black glaze, early 17th centuryObject study

Chawan: How to Read a Japanese Tea Bowl Before You Buy

A chawan read through four Metropolitan Museum tea bowls: Raku, Black Seto and Black Oribe, the museum's own wording on attribution, and what to ask before you buy.

Asian · Japanese29 October 2026 · 4 min read
The catalogue
Satsuma ware incense burner: a cream, crackle-glazed round burner on three feet, with a domed openwork lid and a band of pierced lattice around the body

Satsuma Ware: Japanese Earthenware, Crackle Glaze and How to Read It

Asian · JapaneseKutani ware plate: round dark green plate painted with overlapping fans, one section in gold and yellow, with a ribbed rim

Kutani Ware: Ko-Kutani, the Five Colors and the Arita Question

Asian · JapaneseImari ware: large round dish with a dark blue rim studded with gilt and red medallions, and white panels painted with pine, plum blossom, red cloud bands and a wave

Imari Ware: How to Identify Japanese Imari Porcelain

Asian · JapaneseAntique Japanese porcelain plate painted mainly in blue and white, with a figure under a parasol at the center and a border of small panels and a fine pattern

Antique Japanese Porcelain: How to Tell Imari, Kakiemon and Nabeshima

Asian · Japanese
Elsewhere in the journal
French Art Deco furniture and decoration in Ruhlmann's small salon, 1925 colour plate: pale panelled walls edged in gilt, a tiered crystal chandelier, a gilded relief above a mirror, a dark desk with a slatted lid, a cream armchair and a round painted panel of birds before the fireplace

French Art Deco Furniture: Ruhlmann’s Pavilion at the 1925 Paris Exposition

Art Nouveau & Art DecoBaroque furniture: a tall state bed hung with blue silk damask, with a deep fringed canopy and curtains, shown in a dark museum gallery beside an upholstered armchair

Baroque Furniture: The Roman Baroque Bed

Baroque & RococoDark wooden cabinet with asymmetrical stepped shelves and small open compartments above, gold and red carved panels in the lower doors and a pierced brass grille at the centre

Japonisme: How Japanese Art and Design Reshaped Western Interiors

Asian · Japanese