Japanese hand painted porcelain lidded tea bowl

Description

Japanese hand painted porcelain lidded tea bowl. Item 4753.This Japanese porcelain lidded tea bowl is decorated with the hand painted blue and white pattern known as “The three friends of winter”, a centuries old Chinese motif that has been adopted by several East Asian cultures. The friends are pine, bamboo and plum which all survive the winter months. Both the outside of the bowl and the lid are painted with this pattern and there is also an inner border to both the bowl and lid. The bowl has a diameter of 95 mm (3.75 inches) and it stands 48 mm (2 inches) high. With the lid on the height is 66 mm (2.6 inches). It is in very good condition and would date to the early part of the twentieth century.