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Japanese map plate, Chizuzara
(Nihon chizu ozara 染付日本地図大皿)
(1830-1844)
Medium
porcelain (Imari ware)
Measurements
6.8 × 48.3 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by The Myer Foundation, 2014
Gallery location
Level 1, NGV International
About this work
During the mid Edo period, the designs of Imari porcelain ware displayed uniquely Japanese subjects and expressed the population’s fascination with their own nation and the possibilities for travel within it. Moulded in low relief, this map plate displays Japan’s islands with the name and boundaries of each feudal domain. Around the circumference of the plate are parts of other lands such as Chōsen (Korea, upper left), Ryūkyū koku (Okinawa, bottom left) and Matsumae (southern Hokkaido, right), and the humorous inclusion of mythical places such as Shōjin koku (land of dwarfs, top middle) and Nyogo koku (land of women, bottom right).
