TWO LARGE JAPANESE IMARI FIGURES OF BEAUTIES EDO PERIOD, C.1700 Both bijin typically decorated in underglaze blue, red, black and gilt; the two graceful figures depicted standing and smiling gently, each holding the hem of her garment and with her hair elegantly held up with a comb; one wearing a robe painted with flowering chrysanthemum by a stream, and the other with pine and branches of plum, 57cm and 59cm respectively. (2) Provenance: from an English private collection. Tall figures such as these were popular in European courts in the late 17th and early 18th century, especially in the Netherlands. These graceful ladies are referred to as `bijin` or `Kanbun beauties` after the Kanbun era (1661-73). They can also be found decorated in the Kakiemon palette. Cf. J Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, vol. 2, pp.686-7, fig.1682 and 1683, for other examples in the royal collections.