Baluster-shaped vase (part of a five-piece garniture) ca. 1690-1720 Japanese, for export market (Hizen ware, Imari type) Japanese porcelain vases made for export were avidly sought by aristocratic and royal patrons to decorate their stately homes and palaces in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. While Chinese porcelains were exported to Europe and Britain in larger quantities during this period, Japanese porcelains were prized for their boldly patterned and richly-colored decoration. The popularity of works such as these changed European taste for Asian porcelain, with a more vivid palette preferred over the blue and white decoration which once defined imported porcelains.. Baluster-shaped vase (part of a five-piece garniture). Japanese, for export market (Hizen ware, Imari type). ca. 1690-1720. Hard-paste porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze enamel and gilding. Ceramics-Porcelain-Export