Kutani Porcelain Shunga Sake Cups, Graduated Trio with Gold Interiors and Painted Grass Sprays, Boxed
Kutani Porcelain Shunga Sake Cups, Graduated Trio with Gold Interiors and Painted Grass Sprays, Boxed
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- Vereinigte Staaten · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $30, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Character
- Ornate 7.4 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
Three Cups, One Secret
Turned over, the three cups show nothing but a quiet pattern of brushed grasses. Filled and raised, each reveals a gilded pool in which a pair of lovers lies entwined in patterned robes, a private joke shared with whoever drinks.
Best for: Collectors of erotic Japanese porcelain and Kutani enamel painting
Condition notes
Light soiling and rubbing from age and handling, consistent with ordinary use. No chips or cracks are recorded; heights are being confirmed.
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
Verfügbarkeit für Abholungen konnte nicht geladen werden
All sales are final. Please read our refund policy before purchase.
Considered offers only. The Desk replies personally to figures made in good faith; those set far below the asking price receive no reply.
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A graduated trio of Kutani sake cups, plain and serene from the outside, each holding a gilded pool painted with a pair of lovers.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Sake cups painted with shunga were made to be passed round at private gatherings, where the scene appeared only once the cup was raised and emptied. These three are graduated, so they nest one within another.
Each interior is gilded and painted in overglaze enamels with a couple in the manner of ukiyo-e, a man with a shaved crown and topknot and a woman with her hair dressed high, wrapped in robes of slate blue, coral, celadon and lilac picked out in gold and raised white dots. The exteriors are left white and brushed with sprays of dark green grasses touched with red, and each base carries a red Kutani mark.
The cups come with a wooden storage box. In the photographs a small digital mosaic covers the most intimate details; it was added for discretion only, and the cups themselves are painted in full.
Details
- Ware: Kutani porcelain
- Form: Three sakazuki (sake cups), graduated
- Decoration: Overglaze enamels (iroe) with gold (kinsai)
- Marks: Red Kutani mark on each base
- Large cup: About 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter
- Medium cup: About 7.2 cm (2.8 in) in diameter
- Small cup: About 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter
- Heights: Being confirmed against our archive records
- Box: Wooden storage box included
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 0.2 cm (0.1 in).
Condition
- Light soiling and rubbing from age and handling.
- Enamels and gold remain bright on all three interiors.
Condition grade C (good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as Kutani porcelain on the evidence of the red mark on each base; the cups are undated and are described from photographs. Wash by hand and never use abrasives on the gold.
Delivery from Japan
Each cup is wrapped separately, boxed and cushioned, then shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Kindred pieces are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and in Japanese Porcelain and Ceramics.
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