Kutani Porcelain Shunga Sake Cups, Nested Set of Three with Gilt Interiors and Orchid Exteriors, Unused, Boxed
Kutani Porcelain Shunga Sake Cups, Nested Set of Three with Gilt Interiors and Orchid Exteriors, Unused, Boxed
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- United States · 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 $42, 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 7.8 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
Mint
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
A Toast Behind Closed Doors
Turned over, the three cups show only a quiet spray of orchid. Righted and filled, each reveals a pair of lovers painted on burnished gold, the private wit of the higa, the hidden picture, carried to the sake table.
Best for: Collectors of Kutani porcelain, sake ware and hidden shunga objects
Condition notes
Offered as unused, kept in storage; only fine storage marks, as described. Gilding and enamels bright. Fitted presentation box included.
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
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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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Three nested Kutani porcelain sake cups, plain orchid sprays outside and lovers painted on burnished gold within, offered unused in their fitted presentation box.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Kutani, the porcelain tradition of Kaga province, is known for its rich overglaze enamels and generous gold. Here that richness is kept inside. From the outside each cup shows only a white body painted with a loose spray of orchid leaves and small red buds.
Within, the well of each cup is laid with burnished gilding and painted with a pair of lovers in the manner of an ukiyo-e print: a woman with an elaborate coiffure and hairpins, her partner with a shaven pate, their robes in rose, pale blue, green and black, picked out with tiny gold dots. Such cups belong to the higa, the hidden picture, a playful branch of the erotic arts in which a scene waits to be found at the bottom of a cup.
Details
- Ware: Kutani porcelain, as described; red Kutani mark on each foot
- Form: Sakazuki, three nested sake cups
- Decoration: Overglaze enamels and gilding
- Large cup: About 8 cm (3.1 in) across, 2.8 cm (1.1 in) high
- Middle cup: About 7 cm (2.8 in) across, 2.5 cm (1.0 in) high
- Small cup: About 6 cm (2.4 in) across, 2 cm (0.8 in) high
- Box: Fitted presentation box
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 0.3 cm (0.1 in).
Condition
- Offered as unused, from storage.
- Only fine marks from storage; gilding and enamels bright.
Condition grade S (unused) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as Kutani porcelain on the evidence of the mark; undated, and no maker beyond the mark is claimed. Wash by hand only; never in a dishwasher or microwave, which would harm the gold.
Delivery from Japan
Each cup is wrapped separately, the set is double boxed and 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. Further pieces of the kind are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and among our Japanese arts and antiques.
Concierge
Searching for other higa sake cups or Kutani sets? Our Hunting Salon™ locates such pieces across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: Kutani shunga sake cups · higa sakazuki set · hidden picture sake cup
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