A pair of inlaid bronze oviform vases By Hokugaku Yokoyama Yazaemon II (Takasumi, 1845-1903), Takaoka, Meiji era (1868-1912), 1880s Depicting the fight between Benkei and Yoshitsune on the Gojo Bridge, the two combatants appearing on separate vases, the reverse of each with a single figure beneath a cherry tree in a mountain landscape, all rendered with well-carved detail and inlaid in iro-e takazogan, the areas above and below carved with elaborate repeat patterns, the feet carved as grotesque masks, the handles as dragonfish, both signed Dai Nippon Etchu no ju Hokugaku Yokoyama Takasumi saku. 31.8cm (12½in) high. (2). 注脚 The unusual and distinctive shape derives from the same source as a pair of vases in the Khalili collection which probably forms the matching pair to the present lot, illustrated by Joe Earle, Splendors of Imperial Japan, Arts of the Meiji Period from the Khalili Collection, Khalili Family Trust, London, 2002, p.57, cat.no.15. A tall koro (incense burner) by the artist and signed Dai Nippon Kashu no ju Enchu sei Etchu no ju nidai Hokugaku Yokoyama Yazakemon saku is illustrated in Takaoka doki: Meiji-ki chokin meisakushu (Takaoka Bronzes: Collected Masterpieces of Meiji-Era Metalwork), Meiji-ki Takaoka Doki Chokin Meisaku Hozonkai (Association for the Preservation of Masterpieces of Meiji-Era Bronze Vessels and Metalwork from Takaoka), Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, 1985, unpaginated, no.10.