Japanese Porcelain Vase aka-e kinran-de Meiji Kutani antique circa 1885 - signed Kaga San Pu Do - painted by Kasama Shuseki - Kanazawa 15.2 cm high

A beautifully hand painted and highly collectable decorative antique Japanese porcelain quatrefoil vase decorated in the traditional iron red style and enamel brocade - called aka-e kinran-de (赤絵 金襴手). This style of decoration is usually associated with Kutani (The Nine Valleys). This vase dates to the late 19th century in the Meiji period (1868-1912) circa 1885. Some collectors may refer to this quatrefoil shape as bag shaped.

The whole body has been finely hand painted in enamels with profuse gilding. The main design structure is painted with two large main ornately shaped cartouches, with similar themed but different designs, on the opposing sides that almost fill each of the large lobes on the main widest faces. These panels are painted with scholars and courtiers some wearing court hats of officials - Ori-eboshi (折烏帽子) and an important looking gentleman wearing a classic court cap of a Kanamuri he is also carrying a fixed fan or uchiwa, which were often seen as a status symbol. On one side there are two young men holding a long scroll which has calligraphy on it.  All details are very finely painted and decorated with gilding, there are cloud scrolls to the background in very fine red dots or Ishime uchi - 石目打ち. The two smaller lobes and the remaining space is filled with iron red enamel with gilding in cloud scrolls, diaper decoration, kamon style decoration and gilded stylised flowers and scrolls.

The porcelain vase which is moulded in two halves and joined with slip has an underglaze blue fan shaped potter's mark with what we think is a Kanji character in it that we have so far been unable to decipher.

The base of the vase is also marked in iron red enamel with the painter's six character kanji mark - 加賀國三布堂 - Kaga no Kuni sān pu do - which translates as Kaga country Sanpudo.  Sanpu do (三布堂) was the pen name of Kasama Shuseki (笠間秀石). The reference to Kaga country was the old Kaga province now part of the Ishikawa prefecture.

Kasama Shuseki, who is considered a master craftsman of Meiji Kutani, worked with his own kiln from 1883 until his death in 1895 in Kanazawa (金沢), which is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu island of Japan. He had a number of pupils one of which was Shimizu Tokutaro (清水 徳太郎) who had the pen name of Bizan 1st (美山初代).

This beautiful antique Japanese porcelain vase is in excellent antique condition with no chips cracks nor restoration, it has some minor firing tears to the seam on the inside of the two moulded halves. There is some very minor wear to the gilding particularly on the scroll where the calligraphy is worn, this Japanese writing can be seen at an acute angle. Please see the images and description.

This is a highly collectable and decorative items and great for display on its own or as part of a collection antique Japanese porcelain or Kutani-yaki.

The vase is approximately 6 inches (15.2 cm) high, 3 5/8 inches wide (9.2 cm) wide and 3 1/4 inches (8.2 cm) deep. It weighs 370 grammes unpacked.