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Source Description
While inspired by medicine jars used in European pharmacies, this bottle was likely decorative. It may have been exported by the Dutch East India Company, a powerful trading company from the Netherlands. In Japan, it operated from Deshima, a man-made island in Nagasaki harbor created in 1636. The initials “I. C.” appear on the base. As the letter <em>J</em> was often transposed with the letter <em>I</em> in Europe of the 1600s, some scholars believe the bottle may have been made for Johannes Camphuys (1634–1695), who was in charge of the Dutch East India Company’s operations in Deshima in 1671.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
142835
label
Medicine Bottle
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
142835
contentType
object
title
Medicine Bottle
description
While inspired by medicine jars used in European pharmacies, this bottle was likely decorative. It may have been exported by the Dutch East India Company, a powerful trading company from the Netherlands. In Japan, it operated from Deshima, a man-made island in Nagasaki harbor created in 1636. The initials “I. C.” appear on the base. As the letter <em>J</em> was often transposed with the letter <em>I</em> in Europe of the 1600s, some scholars believe the bottle may have been made for Johannes Camphuys (1634–1695), who was in charge of the Dutch East India Company’s operations in Deshima in 1671.
date
1670s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60757559
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
height: 41.3 cm (16 1/4 in.)
cul
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
accession
1966.514
Source extras
tec
porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
tombstone
Medicine Bottle (薬瓶), 1670s. Japan, Edo period (1615–1868). Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration; height: 41.3 cm (16 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin, 1966.514
titleInOriginalLanguage
薬瓶
collection
Japanese Art
inscriptions
inscription
"I.C." on bottom (probably made for Joannes Camphuys, 1634–1695).
sortorder
1
citations
citation
Lerner, Martin. “Tea-Ceremony Pottery and Export Porcelain.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 54, no. 9 (November 1967): 267–278, 290–292B.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 274–275, figs. 4 and 5
citation
Lerner, Martin. <em>Blue and White: Early Japanese Export Ware</em>. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: cat. no. 45
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
updatedAt
2026-06-17 13:31:39.360000
sourceId
142835
dept
Japanese Art
coll
Japanese Art
med
porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
c930c49f0ea38af9