Description A CLOISONNÉ VASE WITH CHRYSANTHEMUMSJapan, Meiji period (1868-1912)The ovoid body supported on a short spreading foot to a broad waisted neck with everted rim, decorated in bright enamels with leafy chrysanthemums growing in a bamboo-fenced garden, with a band of butterflies below the rim, all against a soft grayish-lavender ground. The base incised with concentric rings.HEIGHT 19.7 cmWEIGHT 421 gCondition: Very good condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities, including expected pitting, a small loss to enamel below the rim.Provenance: The Strong National Museum of Play, accession number 76.2389 (lacquered to the base). Margaret Woodbury Strong (1897-1969) grew up in a prosperous family of collectors. Her interests ranged so widely that by 1960 she had amassed more than 27,000 collectible items and works of art. The vast majority of her collections related in some way to play and as her accumulation grew, Margaret planned a museum to house her collection. It eventually opened to the public in 1982, and grew dramatically over the following decades, expanding its collections, facilities, and resources, now spanning over 285,000 square feet. Today, the Strong National Museum of Play (known as just The Strong Museum or simply The Strong) is the only collections-based museum in the world devoted solely to the study of play.