Brilliant porcelain across the Pacific Ocean – Old Noritake: Beauty Bridging East & West

[Inscription] Maple Leaf Mark

[Year of Manufacture] 1891 – 1915 (approx.)

This piece is finished with raised decoration over a gradated moss green and ocher base coloring. Within the raised decorations, a mantis can be seen climbing up the arrowroot leaves. Since religious paintings were often considered the top of the hierarchy in the world of Western art, the fact that the Japanese art world often featured insects or animals and plants as themes was a refreshing surprise for Western observers, and such works have been highly valued as examples of Japonism since the end of the 19th century. Paintings of small animals or insects, including the Chōjū Giga (animal caricatures) scrolls, have long been familiar to the Japanese people. This piece is also a work created from the hearts of the nature-loving Japanese people.