TAKASAKI KOICHI: A MASTERFUL ENAMELED SHIBUICHI VASE DEPICTING LILIES By Takasaki Koichi, signed Takasaki Koichi Japan, late 19th century, Meiji period (1868-1912) The ovoid body supported on a short foot and rising to a short waisted neck with flared rim. The silver-patinated ground applied in high relief with gilt-wire and bright enamels with white and orange lilies borne on long, leafy stems. The mouth with a silver inset and the foot of silver as well. The signature to the base worked in gold wire and red enamel TAKASAKI KOICHI. HEIGHT 18.8 cm WEIGHT 908 g Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear. Takasaki Koichi is known as one of the most prominent metal-artists of the Meiji period and he exhibited a pair of enameled silver vases with peonies and poppies at the International Exposition held in Paris in 1900, illustrated in the catalog Fine Arts Magazine, extra issue No. 2. Today, however, only very few pieces by Koichi are known to exist. Lilies have long been admired for their slender stems and large flowers, their Japanese name `yuri` comes from the word meaning to sway, as the lily does in the breeze. There is a Japanese saying used to describe a woman`s beauty, `She sits and stands a peony and walks a lily`. Literature comparison: Compare a related enameled shibuichi vase by Takasaki Koichi, 34.5 cm high, illustrated in Meiji no Takara: Treasures of Imperial Japan - The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, The Kibo Foundation, 1995, Metalwork Part I, no. 64. Compare a related enameled silver vase by Takasaki Koichi, 27.9 cm high, in the collection of the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, accession number JLS.10279. Auction comparison: Compare a related enameled and metal-inlaid iron incense burner by Takasaki Koichi, 21 cm high, at Christie`s, 2 October 2017, Hong Kong, lot 60 ( sold for 812,500 HKD ). 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer`s premium – only for buyers within the EU.