A squat Satsuma vase


By Okamoto Ryozan, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centuryDecorated in enamels and gilt, depicting townspeople enjoying activities associated with different months of the year, including people eating suika (water melon) in the summer, ladies buying a planted flower from a botanist and a drunk samurai wielding a sword before a daruma doll perched on a stand over a bucket and hagoita (a battledore) lying on the ground, the flattened shoulder and foot decorated with overlapping and assorted brocades; signed on the base in gilt Ryozan beneath the Yasuda Trading Company mark. 12cm (4¾in) high.