Apothecary's Bottle (1670s): Art, History and Details

Apothecary's Bottle (1670s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The decoration of this white porcelain bottle was achieved through a multistep process. First, some decorative elements, like the deep blue forms, were applied with glaze and then fired. Enamels were brushed on to achieve the bright colors. This bottle was probably in the collection of Johannes Camphuys (1634-1695), who was in charge of the Dutch residential island of Deshima in Nagasaki harbor.

Object facts

• Title: Apothecary's Bottle
• Date: 1670s
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze color enamels (Hizen ware, Arita type)
• Dimensions: Overall: 51 cm (20 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1971.169

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. James J. Rorimer in memory of Maurice Rohrheimer

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.