NOGAWA: A FINE PATINATED BRONZE GU-FORM VASE By the Nogawa company, signed Yushi koku and with the Nogawa company mark Japan, late 19th century, Meiji period (1868-1912) The vase shaped like a Chinese gu vessel, with a slightly flared base tapering to a slender body widening to a trumpet-shaped mouth wider than the base, finely inlaid with various metals including gold and silver depicting tall bamboo and sprouting bamboo shoots, signed YUSHI koku, the base with the mark of the Nogawa company. HEIGHT 21.8 cm WEIGHT 489.3 g Condition: Very good condition with minor surface wear, some wear to metal inlays as well, few minuscule nicks, occasional light scratches. Provenance: Collection of Wivica Ankarcrona Borell (1935-2019). Her grandfather Sten Ankarcrona was a Swedish marine officer who came to Japan on a special mission in 1923, bringing back vast collections of Japanese art and decorating his summer house, creating first a Japanese garden and later a complete Japanese building as documented in Svenska Hem i ord och bild (Swedish Home in Words and Pictures) in 1928, providing a fascinating look at this golden age of European collecting. Their guest book contains the signature of the Swedish king Gustav VI Adolf as well as that of the Japanese crown prince, later Emperor Akihito. Auction comparison: Compare a related bronze vase, featuring a similar depiction of bamboo and also signed Yushi koku, at Christie's, Masterful Exuberance, Artistic Craftsmanship of Imperial Japan: The Property of a Lady, 18 May 2012, London, lot 150 (sold for 2,750 GBP).