Meiji Cloisonne Display Platter
A meiji cloisonne display platter brings intricate copper and enamel work into your home, showing birds, dragons, and landscapes from nineteenth-century Japan.
Meiji Cloisonne Display Platter
A meiji cloisonne display platter is a decorative charger, tray, or plate created during the Meiji period and the late Edo period. These large pieces serve as visual centerpieces, featuring intricate depictions of subjects such as dragons, koi, chrysanthemums, and Mount Fuji.
The selection here encompasses items dated across the decades from the 1860s to the 1900s. Formats range from standard decorative plates to huge chargers measuring up to forty centimetres across.
Factors of quality
Quality rests in the precision of the wirework and the complexity of the pictorial design. Finer pieces demonstrate immense control in rendering subjects like feathers, scales, and natural scenery without surface flaws.
Scale and signature also differentiate the works, with larger signed chargers representing the more ambitious output of the period's workshops.
Meiji Cloisonne Display Platter Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for meiji cloisonne display platter among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Several platters feature frogs alongside chrysanthemums and butterflies, bringing unexpected wildlife into formal nineteenth-century metalwork.
The Meiji Cloisonne Display Platter Glossary
- Cloisonne enamel
- A decorative metalwork technique where enamel paste is applied within compartments defined by soldered wire.
- Totai shippo
- A Japanese technique involving enamel applied directly over a porcelain body rather than metal.
- Charger
- A large decorative plate or platter intended for display rather than dining use.
- Ho-o
- A mythical Chinese and Japanese bird representing virtue and grace, often translated as phoenix.
- Mon
- A Japanese heraldic badge or emblem used to identify families or clans.
Meiji Cloisonne Display Platter: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I display a large charger safely?
Display these heavy metal and enamel plates using sturdy wall brackets or dedicated plate stands designed for substantial weight.
Ensure the support accommodates the full diameter of the platter, which often spans over thirty centimetres.
Were these platters used for food?
These pieces function primarily as decorative chargers rather than tableware. The intricate wire and enamel surfaces suit visual presentation.
Their construction makes them unsuited for serving liquids or heavy food items.
What subjects appear on these platters?
Common motifs include dragons, koi fish, birds such as ibis and phoenixes, and landscapes featuring Mount Fuji. Auspicious symbols and floral patterns also frequent the designs.
Each subject draws from traditional Japanese iconography of the nineteenth century.
How do I identify a Meiji period piece?
Meiji period items date from 1868 to 1912, often showing refined technical mastery in copper and enamel work. Surviving examples frequently bear signatures or distinct stylistic traits from this era.
Earlier works bridge into the late Edo period with similar decorative approaches.