A gilt-bronze figure of a flute player By Miyao Eisuke of Yokohama, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century Standing and playing a flute, wearing a jacket decorated with gilt prunus blossoms, pinecones, and bamboo leaves, representing the 'Three Friends of Winter' (pine, bamboo and prunus), his trousers decorated with a gilt diaper pattern, a basket strapped to his back, signed in a gilt rectangular reserve on the reverse of his jacket Miyao; affixed on a rectangular wood stand decorated with floral and vegetal scrolls in gilt hiramaki-e. Overall: 12.6cm (4 15/16in) high; the figure: 9.3cm (3 11/16in) high.