日本瓷器及艺术品

Of European glass or metal square form, with a stepped shoulder, and short central spout with an everted rim, painted in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels, each of the four sides decorated differently, one panel with a man dressed in long underglaze blue and light pink robes decorated with a golden pattern, he is holding a fly-whisk, and is gazing up towards a large prunus tree,  growing from the ground, the thin gnarled trunk and small leaves in dark underglaze blue, the flowers moulded in low relief and painted in either gold or light pink with iron-red outlines, the next panel with a long branch of budding and blossoming chrysanthemum again the flower-heads in low relief and painted in gold and shades of iron-red, the stem and leaves in dark underglaze blue and outlined in gold, standing underneath the branch a man dressed in pink robes finely decorated in gold and a small boy beside him in golden clothes, the boy looks up towards the man, his arm outstretched in front of him, the following panel again with a gnarled prunus tree and flowers in low relief and standing below its branches a figure holding a fan in gold with iron-red outlines, and wearing a shorter robe tied around his waist in pink with an intricate gold decoration, and dark blue trousers also decorated with a gold motif, the fourth panel replicating the tall chrysanthemum plant  but with a single figure, the long sleeves of his pink and gold patterned robe covering his hands, his dark blue trousers with a golden meandering pattern, all panels bordered by thin dark blue bands highlighted with a pattern in gold, the dark blue continues up on the stepped shoulder interspersed on each side with a small cartouche painted with small flower-sprays on either a white or iron-red ground, around the short neck still on the shoulder a flattened square area painted with trellis-work in iron-red, the tapering spout decorated around the base with upright flower-heads and shapes, the rim of the mouth high-lighted in gold, the base unglazed.