Japanese Tibor. Edo period, 18th century.

Japanese Tibor. Edo period, XVIII century.
In polychrome porcelain.
One of the Dutch characters represented carries a banner with the initials VOC (Dutch East India Company).
Provenance: Pardo-Mitsunaga Collection
Piece reproduced in the catalog of the exhibition "The beauty of the ephemeral. Japanese art through the collections of Daniel Buján and Pardo-Mitsunaga", held at the Museo do Mar de Galicia (Vigo), November 2025-January 2026.
Measurements: 64 x 30 x 30 cm.

Important and rare Japanese tibor with lid belonging to the production of the Edo period, decorated with an elaborate iconography linked to the Dutch trade in Japan. The piece constitutes an outstanding testimony of the artistic phenomenon known as Nanban art, developed from the contact between Japan and the European powers since the 16th century.

The cover shows a maritime scene with European-rigged ships, while the main body depicts a procession of Dutch characters identifiable by their clothing - wide-brimmed hats, capes, breeches and boots - and, particularly significant, by the banner with the initials "VOC", corresponding to the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie).

This iconographic detail makes the piece a rare visual document of international trade through the artificial island of Dejima, in Nagasaki, the only authorized enclave for trade with the West during much of the Edo period.

The decoration, executed in rich polychrome on a white background, combines European narrative resources with Japanese compositional conventions. The upper register incorporates large reserves and ornamental elements that visually structure the surface, while the figurative scene is developed with dynamism and attention to detail.

Because of its subject matter explicitly linked to the VOC, its narrative complexity and its careful execution, this tibor is among the most unique productions of early Japonisme and Japanese export art of the 18th century, being a piece of special historical and collecting interest.