Note
新吉原弐丁目 Shin-Yoshiwara Nichō-me / 玉屋 荘兵衛蔵 Tamaya Shōbei-zō (belonging to)."
Shōbei Tamaya was the owner of the (in)famous Tamaya pleasure house which was one of the 7 major houses of the Yoshiwara and would have been prosperous enough to have bespoke serving bowls like this.
Arita expert professor Ohashi Koji:
“Thank you for the images of this interesting object. I have never seen anything else with this kind of inscription. But from the design and quality of the cobalt, I think it is an Arita product dating to around 1780 to the 1820s. It was formed using a six-sixed mold. A similar mold has been found among the 900 molds passed down in the Kakiemon family. The width of the mold is 14 cm., but is the width of this dish a bit larger?
The workmanship and decoration also indicate that this is quite likely a product of a workshop in the Nangawara area of Arita (including the possibility of the Kakiemon workshop). Possibly it was made to an order sent by Tamaya Sobei of the Shin Yoshiwara district in Edo.
Regarding to an establishment named Tamaya in Shin Yoshiwara, an establishment by that name was located in Yoshiwara in Edo-cho 1-chome, according to the publication 19 of the Pola Kenkyujo (Pola Research Center). I notice that it specifies Edo-cho 1-chome, not 2-chome. Edo-cho 1-chome and 2-chome faced each other across a street. The publication introduces a print by Utagawa Toyokuni from around 1827 (Bunsei 10) depicting three prostitutes from the area. Amazingly one can imagine that the order from Tamaya Sobei came from around just this time. This is a fascinating object without any parallels known to me.”
興味深い作品の写真ありがとうございます。
このような文字を入れたものは見たことがありません。
しかし、デザインや呉須の特徴から、有田産で、1780～1820年 代と思います。
六角の土型を用いた型打ち成形を行っていますが、似た土� �は
柿右衛門家伝来の900点の土型の中にみられます。土型のサ� �ズは、径１４㎝ですが、
この作品の口径はもう少し大きいですか？
作りや絵付けからも、有田の南川原地区（柿右衛門窯を含� �）の窯の可能性が高いと思います。
江戸の新吉原の玉屋荘兵衛からの注文で作られたのでしょ� �。
新吉原の玉屋は江戸の吉原遊郭の中の江戸町１丁目に玉屋� �いう妓楼があったことが
ポーラ研究所の第１９回に記されています。２丁目ではな� �１丁目とされているのは気になりますが。
２丁目と１丁目は通りを挟んで向かい合っているのですが� �
そこで抱えていた遊女３人を描いた歌川豊国の
文政１０年（１８２７）頃の浮世絵が紹介されています。� �さにこうした時期の玉屋荘兵衛
からの注文品と推測されます。他に例のない興味深い資料� �す。”
