A pair of Bowls, Chinese Imari style

[Stan]

Hi Peter, here is a pair of bowls " one " showing, They are Chinese Imari, and have bubble burst on the bottom some of the bursts do not go down to the kaolin, the blue color is a little more bright than usual but what do you think Kangxi ?. The bowls are 21.8 cm wide, I have not seen this bee hive decoration before. Thank you for your expertise.

[Stan]

Here are the rest of the pictures, Thanks for viewing.

[peterp]

Hi Stan,
Are you sure this isn't Japanese? I see nothing Chinese in this decoration. The 'beehive' pattern is common in Japan, also on cloth and other wares. The three leaves remind me of those present in some Japanese family crests. Never saw such a pattern on any Chinese wares, antique or not.
But, even given it was Chinese it could not be Imari or Kangxi. The burst bubbles on the bottom would not be there or only a few in wares of the Kangxi to Qianlong reigns; further, the foot rim would not have a worm back. Generally said, Chinese Imari wares were of better quality (the painting), and would have to be from either the late Kangxi up to perhaps the Yongzheng reign, when export of these was discontinued, it appears. Chinese Imari wares were solely for export to the west and not for use in China, which means they would have at least a certain quality of painting for the European market.
This would have to be for export to Japan, if it was indeed made in China.

[peterp]

The left item shows the typical fine painting of Chinese Imari. The right image shows the foot rim shape of an Imari bowl. The foot rim of plates and dishes would be slanted on the outside.

[peterp]

This is a Japanese Imari decoration, judging by the buildings shown. Here too, quality is much better. Again, these Imari wares were mainly for export to the west.

[Stan]

Hi Peter, The Keri crest, is not a good example if it was Japanese and it is missing the gold for Japanese Imari, I am posting a closer look at the inside foot where it looks like it was fired on a mount of sand, it only shows the sand on the inside foot,  Also inside the bowl on the bottom there is a circular area that was left unglazed to stack other items on top, I do not think the Japanese stacked that way, Japanese would use stilts to stack and the red color is on top of the glaze and does not have a shine but a flat red color, Im Not sure if this helps but a more clues to trace origin,  Could it be from South East Asia ?.

[peterp]

I have considered that also, Stan, but I do not know enough about SE Asian ceramics to know all the styles they made. We have to leave that open for now, I think.  :)