Oliver Impey

Japanese Export Porcelain: Catalogue of the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Oliver Impey 1st edition

Japanese export porcelain of the late-17th and early-18th centuries is so well known in Europe that its exotic origin has almost been forgotten. Not only is it present in most great houses in Europe, where it makes an impact on the decorative schemes of both public rooms and private chambers, but its influence on innumerable porcelain manufacturers in Europe was, and still is, immense. The Ashmolean Museum's collection, formed over the last 30-odd years, and centring round the great collection of Gerald Reitlinger, is perhaps the most comprehensive collection in the West. This catalogue includes only the export wares, the Arita, Ko-Imari and Kakiemon porcelains of the years between about 1660 and 1740, the peak period of the trade. More than 400 pieces are included in the catalogue, each illustrated - some more than once - in colour, with some comparative material. This is probably the largest corpus of Japanese export porcelain published in any single volume, and should be a valuable source for comparative studies. Many pieces have never been published before.