A stunning Imperial Satsuma ware sculpture of an ivory-coloured elephant hand painted with jewels with Kannon Bosatsu (Guanyin Bodhisattva) seated with a scroll in her hand. Satsuma ware is a...
A stunning Imperial Satsuma ware sculpture of an ivory-coloured elephant hand painted with jewels with Kannon Bosatsu (Guanyin Bodhisattva) seated with a scroll in her hand.
Satsuma ware is a type of Japanese pottery originating from Satsuma Province, in the southern region of Kyushu island. Satsuma ware is habitually divided into two distinct categories: the original plain dark clay early Satsuma, known as Ko-Satsuma and produced in Satsuma from around 1600, and the elaborately decorated export Satsuma, known as Kyo-Satsuma, whose ivory-bodied pieces began to be produced during the 19th century in various Japanese cities. By adapting their gilded polychromatic enamel overglaze designs to appeal to the tastes of western consumers, manufacturers of the latter have managed to make Satsuma ware one of the most recognized and profitable export products of the Meiji period.
The decoration employs a large amount of Gosu Blue, an on-glaze enamel found on Imperial Satsuma in the mid to late 19th century. Gosu Blue is distinctive and very thick, that can be either dark blue (as in this case), green or black depending on the firing. "Satsuma Gosu Blue" was produced in very limited quantity in Kyoto in the mid-19th century, and is now the most sought after of the Satsuma wares. Gosu blue is dense, and even when thinly applied one cannot see through it, and it does not get less dense when thin.
Kannon Bosatsu (Guanyin Bodhisattva) carries the Goddess and Divine Mother aspect of Buddhism. She is also synonymous with mercy and compassion. It is thought that the female form of Avalokitesvara, Quan Yin, originated in the twelfth or thirteenth century in both China and Japan. Avalokitesvara and Quan Yin or Kannon are embodiments of compassion. In female form she is roughly equivalent to Green Tara in Tibetan Buddhism, who is considered to be the goddess of universal compassion who represents virtuous and enlightened activity.