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

[Inscription] Hyōchien Paint

[Year of Manufacture] Meiji Era

Hyōchien was a ceramics painting workshop established in 1876 in Tokyo’s Kōtō Ward (formerly Fukagawa Ward) by KAWAHARA Noritatsu (1845 – 1914), who later served as a secretariat officer for the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. Because of its high quality and elaborate painting style—called “Hyōchien style”—the workshop acquired an excellent reputation at numerous expositions both at home and abroad. Noritatsu himself often referred to it as a “Tokyo painting.” In 1899, Hyōchien transferred its export department to Morimura-gumi, and by 1891 all of its facilities had left Tokyo, eventually centering around Nagoya. Tokyo Hyōchien created this piece before its relocation to Nagoya. Its exquisite painting work may well represent Tokyo painting styles of the Meiji Era (1868 – 1912).