Notes: 'TaiSyou sixth year May', from本願寺桂別院, Mayuyama Matsutaro' - characters ink-mark is on the bottom of the Dish. 'LongQuanTang' Three-Character copper-red mark is on the bottom of the Dish. 'Ming Dynasty, Flower & bird pattern big dish, NAGATANI SUMI' characters ink-mark is on the bottom of the Dish. 'NAGATANI CHICAGO' Pencil Characters on the bottom of the Dish. Nishi Honganji was facing a serious financial issue starts from the 3rd year of Taisho Period. Corruption and stealing were happen amount the monks since then. Many antiques and fine arts were sold by Abbot Otani Kozui in order to deal with the huge amount of debts. Mayuyama & Co., (present-day Mayuyama & Co., Ltd.) is a well-known antique shop in Japan before the World War I, as famous as the Yamanaka & Co., Ltd. Many important collections of those top museums in Japan were handled by them. The founder of Mayuyama & Co., Mr. Matsutarō Mayuyama, has entered the antique business as an apprentice only at his age of 17. In April 1905, the young Matsutarō Mayuyama set out on his own to Beijing, and there began his antiques business. An important Celadon-Glazed LongQuan Censer was bought by him on 1908, this lot has bring him a big reputation and a great wealth. The artwork which handled by Mayuyama & Co., is considered as a quality guarantee in the antiques business circle. Mr. Nagatani Sumi was born in 1905 in Osaka and joined Yamanaka & Co., Ltd at his age of 15. He was started an antique dealer and then stationed in US as a company representative in Boston branch, New York branch & Chicago branch. He was also the person-in-charge who handled the company assets in US after World War II. Provenance: 1. Property from Nishi Honganji's Collection (Before 1917). 2. Property from Mr. Matsutaro Matsumura's collection. 3. Property from Mr. 永谷壽三 collection. 4. Property from Mr. & Mrs. Gold's Collection. Collection No. DG/1970/196  大盘盘底墨书“大正六年五月，本愿寺桂别院传来 茧山松太郎入藏”漆书“龙泉堂”字样，另有题签“明时代 染付花鸟文大皿 永谷寿三”盘底边沿铅笔书写“NAGATANI CHICAGO” （大正三年日本西本愿寺遇到财政危机，僧侣贪腐，法主大谷光瑞变卖寺内藏品应对巨额债务，大量古董艺术品流出。茧山龙泉堂”是日本战前知名的古董店，一度与山中商会齐名。日本多个顶级博物馆的藏品亦有龙泉堂经手。龙泉堂的创始人茧山松太郎17岁进入古董行当学徒，1905年到北京一家饭店就职，业余时间学习汉语和古董知识，之后开始自行经营古董生意，1908年其买入的一件宋代龙泉窑青瓷鬲式炉奠定了龙泉堂日后在日本经营中国瓷器古董巨商的地位，由龙泉堂经手的艺术品被认为是品质的保证。 永谷寿三：日本大阪人，1905年出生，15岁加入山中商会，陆续出任山中商会驻美国波士顿，纽约和芝加哥分店代理人，二战结束之后，其代为处理山中商会留美资产问题。） 来源：1大正六年五月（1917）以前 日本西本愿寺桂别院藏 2茧山龙泉堂 茧山松太郎 入藏 3 山中商会 永谷寿三 藏 4戈尔德伉俪藏品 收藏编号DG/1970/196