Description A PAIR OF INLAID BRONZE VASES WITH EGRETS, MEIJIJapan, Meiji period (1868-1912)The vases with elongated ovoid bodies on flat recessed feet, with rounded shoulders and broad mouths. Decorated with egrets in shishiabori (sunken relief), the birds standing in a stream amongst water reeds, with fine incision work and gilt as well as silvered details.Condition: Good condition with minor surface wear, tiny nicks, and surface scratches. Provenance: Family collection of either Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) or his son-in-law Louis (Loek) Borensztajn (1935-2021), Netherlands. Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) was an architect, art collector, dealer, and founder of the first Museum of Japanese Art in the Middle East. He became one of the world's leading collectors of Japanese art, starting at the age of 18, and continued to collect and work as an art dealer in Berlin in the 1920s. In the 1930s Felix Tikotin fled from the Nazis and hid his collection in the Netherlands. After the war, he decided that his collection should be taken to Israel, where in 1959 and with the help of Abba Hushi, who was the mayor of Haifa, The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art was established. The Museum's collection comprises more than 8,000 items of art and crafts.Weight: 1031 g in totalDimensions: Height 15.5 cm each