A large bowl fired in France decorated by Ueda Kochu based on imagery from the Shosoin collection of Imperial Art enclosed in an old wooden box titled Furansu Yaki Kacho E Hachi, Shosoin Gyomotsu Moyo, Ueda Kochu HakuHitsu. This type of dish, made in France, was imported as a blank, decorated in Japan and re-fired, thus giving it overlapping marks of the original French maker and the artist’s signature. A very rare combination offering an intriguing look into the ceramics trade in the 19th century.It is 21.5 cm (8-1/2 inches) diameter, 11 cm (4 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
Ueda Kôchû (1819～1911) was born in Kyoto, the son and pupil of Shijo School artist Ueda Kôfu. After his father's death in 1832, he moved to Osaka where came under the tutelage of Nagayama Kôin. Following the chaos of the Meiji Restoration, Kochu painted on umbrella. It is said he painted on umbrella for a living after the Meiji Restoration. After the Meiji restoration he painted umbrellas, worked as a writer, travelled extensively throughout Japan, and served as a professor at the Naniwa Art School. He was a prominent painter in Osaka art circles and shortly before his death, painted the screens in the Tenman-Shrine. Work by him is held in the British Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art among others.
