A JAPANESE ARITA BLUE AND WHITE TANKARD EDO PERIOD, C.1660-80 The baluster-shaped body decorated with large flowering sprays of peony, leafy branches and buds; a band of karakusa scrolls below the rim and to the handle; the 19th century silver hinged cover embellished with two heraldic birds, the reverse with two four-petalled flowers punch marks and a shield-shaped hallmark enclosing the letter V and with a crown above (a 19th century Dutch mark for foreign silver), 22cm overall. Provenance: from a British private collection. Purchased from the Oriental Art Gallery Ltd, previously acquired from Christie`s London, Japanese Works of Art, 15th November 1994, lot 783. A copy of the Oriental Art Gallery invoice is available. Cf. M A Pintos de Matos and R Kerr, Tankards and Mugs, p.118, fig. 36A, where this very mug is illustrated and discussed.