Pair of lamps in fine Satsuma earthenware with gold and gilt bronze. Ovoid form surmounted by a neck in white cartouches on a gilded background, decorated with butterflies and children. Openwork and gilded bronzes of eclectic style. Japanese and French work made circa 1880 ! The price indicated does not include the lampshade. Our workshop can however advise you with pleasure and make it according to your choice of size and color (to ask) ! Satsuma pottery appeared in the 16th century in Japan in the Satsuma territory.
This type of ceramics is characterized by a great diversity of shapes of objects which evolves according to the times and the kilns used. There are two types of Satsuma: white bottomed Satsumas and black bottomed Satsumas, more widely used for the tea ceremony or to preserve certain liquids, such as alcohol. Satsuma potters developed around 1800 the technique of polychrome enamels of orange-red color and quickly integrated gold highlights, which gave rise to the most famous production of Satsuma called "Gold Brocade" which was widely produced for export during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
The decorative repertoire of these pieces is both inspired by the Kano school of painting in the representation of plants, animals and the human figure, while being added to quite abstract geometric patterns. The composition of the pieces is often very busy, leaving little free space and playing with the accumulation of polychrome enamels and golden highlights to bring a certain richness to the piece.
Japanese pieces were exhibited for the first time in the West at the World's Fair in 1867 and the success of Satsuma ceramics was no longer in doubt at the 1878 edition as they were so omnipresent. Satsuma ceramics are still being produced today, in keeping with the tradition and quality that have made Satsuma one of the major references in Japanese ceramics.