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The Baur Collection, Geneva: Japanese Ceramics

Ayers, John

 ISBN: 2-88031-004-X.; Limited edition of 1600 copies, of which this is 614.

 "Among the 1932 acquisitions Mr. Baur restricted the choice partly to enamelled porcelains from Arita kilns and from Nabeshima, which found ready favour among Western collectors, adding also various later, nineteenth century porcelain wares which included in particular examples of Hirado, Kameyama and Kutani; and besides these he also sent a variety of enamelled pottery belonging to the Kyoto tradition, such as Kiyomizu, Awata and Banko. In 1933, the mixture remained the same - as indeed it was to do during the following years down to 1939 - with pieces by other potters working in similar styles, such as Eiraku. Altogether these wares include many of unusual interest, and of types not widely available in Western collections. But in any assessment of the merits of the collection there can be little doubt that pride of place must be given to the group of early porcelains from Arita and above all, to those made for the princely house of Nabeshima, which both in quality and in numbers are hardly to be matched in any collection outside Japan itself." excerpt from the introduction by John Ayers, 1982.

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