MEIJI OR TAISHO, 20TH CENTURYEach item with a gold lacquer ground, some bearing a monogram with the initials 'WHM', comprising: two large rectangular trays, two tall footed tazze, four middle size and six smaller ones; eighteen small dishes, eighteen teacups and saucers, four bulbous sugar bowls and covers, three hexagonal boxes and covers, two large spoons and eighteen small spoons, seventeen bowls and eleven small teabowls, four sake cups and twelve small footed cups. (146)Provenance: from the collection of General Sir William Henry Manning GCMG, KBE, CB (1863-1932), and Lady Olga Manning (1897-1993), and thence by descent. According to the family, the service was gifted to Lady Manning by Emperor Hirohito when General Sir William Henry Manning, then Governor of Ceylon, visited Japan circa 1919-22.