Hibachi - Porcelain - Colourful porcelain hibachi 火鉢 (fire bowl) with a rich design of 'Barque' Tall ships and flowers - Japan - Shōwa period (1926-1989)

Vibrant porcelain hibachi 火鉢 (fire bowl) decorated with three multi-coloured 'Barque' Tall ships in cartouches. The cartouches are surrounded by a motive of different colourful flowers on a dark red fond. Above this part, there is a blue and white glazed meander band. The bottom and top of this hibachi are both decorated with their own repetitive flower designs. The hibachi is in very good condition. The ships are a reference to the Dutch-Japanese trading relations during the Edo period, when the V. O. C. was stationed at Deshima. The hibachi is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is either round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is filled with incombustible ash, and charcoal sits in the center of the ash. Hibachi were used for heating, not for cooking. It heats by radiation, and is too weak to warm a whole room. (From Wikipedia) In Western culture these bowls are often also used as decorative flower pots.