Design for a Plate

This design sheet from the Noritake company shows ornamental patterns developed for porcelain tableware. The upper sketches display various vessel forms—bowls, compotes, and serving dishes—with dimensional notations for production. The central composition features an elaborate border with scrollwork and dangling figure motifs surrounding a central medallion, typical of Meiji-era Japanese export porcelain. Small repeated human figures hang from the borders like ornaments, reflecting the decorative vocabulary of Asian and European aesthetic traditions blended for the Western market. Noritake's New York office coordinated designs between Japanese craftsmen and American consumers during the height of the export porcelain trade.