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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.

Page data

Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
c930c49f0ea38af9
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
142835
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "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",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.514",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60757559"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Ceramic"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "height: 41.3 cm (16 1/4 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)"
    ],
    "accession": "1966.514"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "142835",
    "label": "Medicine Bottle",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document 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",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.514",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60757559"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Ceramic"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "height: 41.3 cm (16 1/4 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)"
    ],
    "accession": "1966.514"
}
Document 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",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152177"
        },
        {
            "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"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.514",
    "creditline": "Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin",
    "updatedAt": "2026-06-17 13:31:39.360000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.514/1966.514_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 142835,
    "dept": "Japanese Art",
    "coll": "Japanese Art",
    "med": "porcelain with underglaze blue decoration",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
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