A PAIR OF MASSIVE JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE VASES BY HASHIMOTO ISSHI I OR II MEIJI ERA, LATE 19TH CENTURY The baluster bodies decorated with panels enclosing many birds and flowers rendered in relief, both vases embellished with a large writhing dragon in the lower section and bird-shaped handles, each with a band of gold splashes to the neck and inscribed with a poem, one possibly translating as `Bush warblers are singing and flitting between the branches of plum trees, as if they are embroidering a hat with designs of plum blossom` and the other ` The guards are idle at the moment, however, the scent of plum flowers is carried though the fence by the wind``, signed Hashimoto for Hashimoto Isshi I (1820-1896) or II (act. c.1903), both 76.5cm. (2) Cf. R E Haynes, The Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists, p.400, where both Isshi I and II are discussed. Hashimoto Isshi I came from Omi Province and later worked in Edo by order of the Shogun, before returning to Kyoto in 1863. The author notes that he `became a retainer of the Hirohata kuge family and was allowed to wear a sword`. His son Yoshitaro, later becoming the second Isshi, worked in the same style as his father and because of this, it can be difficult to differentiate their works.