A LARGE AND IMPRESSIVE JAPANESE SATSUMA VASE BY RYOZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY

MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY

The ovoid body richly decorated in gilt and polychrome with two large rectangular panels enclosing many figures in mountainous river landscapes, one side with Mount Fuji towering above revelers by a river, some drinking sake in small thatched huts and setting up a picnic under the sakura cherry blossoms, others standing on a veranda and admiring the landscape; the reverse with many travellers on the shore of the Abe River, some on horseback and others on barges, a sign to the side mentioning the Tokaido Road; on an elaborate ground of densely painted brocade designs, geometric patterns and flowerheads, with four medallions to the shoulder enclosing the Maru ni Mitsuba Aoi mon, the family crest for the Tokugawa clan; with further brocade patterns above the foot, the base signed with the mark for the Yasuda Company, Dai Nihon, and Kyoto Ryozan with the Shimazu mon underneath, 30cm.

Provenance: the collection of Stan & Winifred Gerrans, South Africa, and thence by descent.

The elaborate decoration to one side depicts the shores of the Abe River where the 19th station of the Tokaido Road, the main artery of Japan that connected Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto, was located. Ryozan was the head decorator for the Yasuda Satsuma factory, and this is a telling example of his talent.