Set of Twelve Square Dishes with a design of seasonal motifs, each with a poem on the reverse side

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Explanation

This is a set of plates, based on Twelve Poems by Fujiwara-no-Teika. The set is especially valued among Kenzan's works because from the inscribed date of production, it is known with certainty to have been made at the Narutaki kiln. Square in shape with low upright walls, the plates called "picture-frame plates", are each inscribed on the back with a Teika poem and decorated on the interior side with subjects matching the poem. Pictorial decorations are executed on a ground of a warm elegant color in various shades of iron brown, and look almost like paintings on paper. One of the plates is incribed on the back with the date, December of Genroku 15 (1702), and Kenzan's signature along with his kaō (personal handwritten seal).