(2) Japanese Kutani Polychrome Plates. One shows a crowd with a mix of traditional and Western figures, and the other shows a group of old men and two boys gathered to commiserate during a tea ceremony. Both signed in kanji on undersides. 

Largest Size: 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 1 in. 

Kutani ware is a style of Japanese porcelain traditionally made in Kutani, now a part of Kaga, Ishikawa, in the former Kaga Province. It is divided into two phases: Ko-Kutani (old Kutani), from the 17th and early 18th Centuries, and Saikō-Kutani from the revived production in the 19th Century. Kutani ware, especially in the Ko-Kutani period, is marked by vivid dark colors that epitomize lavish aesthetics. It is theorized that the long, harsh, and grey winters of the Hokuriku region led to a preference in ceramic ware for strong, bright, and bold colors. The classical five colors style, known as gosai-de, includes green, blue, yellow, purple, and red. The designs are often crisply outlined, and normally depict landscapes, the beauty of nature, and people engaged in work or play, with the overall design usually covering most of the surface of each piece. Modern archaeological efforts have uncovered that some of the Ko-Kutani production actually took place around Arita, and wares that can be identified as such are now sometimes grouped with Imari ware, or the wider groupings of Arita ware or Hizen ware. The reasons that production of Ko-Kutani ware ceased in 1730 are not known, and the subject of much conjecture. In the early 1800s the style was revived in the area by a group of professional potters, and continues to be produced to this day due to its popularity first with European buyers and later American tourists.

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