MUG, lotus on porcelain (no. 2)

Iwasaki Tsunemasa also Kan-en (岩崎 常正 or 灌園, 1786–1842) was a Japanese botanist and artist (as well as a zoologist, entomologist and samurai of the Tokugawa shogunate).  His book, "Honzō Zufu" is a rare and valuable compendium of plants dating from the late Edo period.  Some of his woodblock art has been reprinted by Kew Gardens and is available here.  

Woodblock printing  is a technique used widely throughout East Asia. Each page or image is created by carving a wooden block to leave only some areas and lines at the original level; it is these that are inked and show in the print, in a relief printing process. Carving the blocks is skilled and laborious work, but a large number of impressions can then be printed

This porcelain lotus series includes lotus buds flowers and seed pod details from some of Iwasaki's larger works which I have infused into the glaze using and technique where images are printed using iron oxide and then fused into the glaze through an additional third low temperature firing