A Magnificent and unusually large Satsuma bowl


By Okamoto Ryozan, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centuryFinely decorated in enamels and gilt with three large rectangular panels, each depicting a different scene, one with women and children at leisure enjoying hanami (cherry-blossom-viewing), the second with travellers and families in front of a tea house strolling along the shores of a lake, during the momijimi (maple-viewing) season and the third with a pair of exotic birds perched on flowering branches of yamazakura (mountain cherry) separated by vertical gilt panels of peony blossoms floating on a tight, repeated foliate patterned ground, the interior painted with a woman and four children attired in sumptuous kimono on their way to play hanetsuki on New Year's day, the woman holding a hagoita (battledore) and throwing up a hane (shuttlecock) beneath an undulating border embellished with a profusion of chrysanthemum and peony blossoms; signed Dai Nihon Kyoto Tojiki Goshigaisha Ryozan tsukuru beneath the Yasuda Trading Company seal-mark. 19.5cm x 41cm (7 5/8in x 16 1/8in).