Worcester Kakiemon Fluted Tea Set, 1775

• Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
  
  Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
• Amulet - Often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol, an amulet is an object worn as a charm to protect the wearer from an evil, such as disease or witchcraft.
• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
• Kakiemon Porcelain - Kakiemon porcelain was made from the 16th to the 19th century in the Arita area of Japan, and is generally agreed to include some of the finest porcelain made in Japan. It is decorated with polychrome enamels over glaze, the most popular colours being underglaze blue and enamels of green, blue, turquoise yellow and persimmon red.
  
  The body of a Kakiemon object is pure white porcelain while the enamel overglaze motifs incorporate Japanese and Chinese designs, but leave much of the white surface unpainted. The name derives from the family of potters who are associated with this style of pottery.
  
  Early Kakiemon porcelain was unmarked, and marks on later objects were variable and unreliable.
  
  Kakiemon porcelain was first imported into Europe by the Dutch at the end of the 17th century, and became extremely popular, resulting in Kakiemon-style imitations being produced by European potteries including Bow, Chelsea and Worcester in England, Mennery, Samson and St. Cloud in France, Delft in Holland and Meissen in Germany.
  
  It's rare for an original Kakiemon object to come onto the market, and almost all sold nowadays is of European origin, and described as Kakiemon pattern or Kakiemon style.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Worcester (England), item types
  • other items 521
  • tea pots and coffee pots 68
• Worcester (England), patterns - Kakiemon pattern 21