Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Lot 28
An Arita figure of a boy, Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1660-1690
1 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£1,000 - £1,500
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An Arita figure of a boy, Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1660-1690
Seated holding a cockerel, painted in the Kakiemon palette, 9.5cm high, faint collector's numerals in black ink to the unglazed base
Footnotes
Provenance
With Robert McPherson Antiques, 2014
Literature
White, Mary, People at the Whites' House, Vol.5, 2024, p.34, fig.b
This charming figure can be classified as an okimono or 'object for display' made for the Tokonoma, an area in the Japanese home reserved for display. Unlike many other objects of Japanese art such as Netsuke, they have no practical function beyond the aesthetic. It is a fine example of classic Kakiemon style that flourished between 1670-1700. The subject is intriguing. In the Edo period, when a boy reached a three or five years old, there was a special ceremony where he would don a special robe and this object could perhaps be regarded as a reflection of this ceremony.
The figure is made from nigoshide porcelain, a porcelain clay that results in a creamy white appearance to the body in imitation of Dehua Chinese porcelain. It was developed exclusively by the Kakiemon kiln in the late 17th century. No underglaze cobalt blue would be used on these works as it would give the overall body a blue sheen. At the back of the cloak of the boy, there are two holes, which seem too large and obtrusive to count as airholes. As with another okimono, a small boy seated on a Go-board in the British Museum (inv. no.Franks.1065), these may be small openings for water.
A sacred animal, the cockerel is a regular feature in Japanese art, used as a symbol for bravery and rebirth. In Japanese mythology a cockerel's crow lured the sun goddess Amaterasu from a dark cave, restoring light to the world. See lot 169 for a larger figure of a standing cockerel in this sale.