Estimate: $20,000 - $40,000
Auction: September 13, 2014 11:00:00 AM EDT
The ovoid vase with everted rim molded and glazed in the Chinese Ming Dynasty fahua style to show 'shou' medallions, lingzhi, lotus and other traditional motifs in turquoise over a deep violet-glazed ground; the unglazed biscuit base with impressed "Made at Kairakuen" four character mark.
H: 11 1/2 in.Provenance: The Kairakuen kiln in Kii province produced ceramics for the Kii branch of the Tokugawa Clan. It is recorded to have fired only four times between 1819 and 1836. The style of this vase reflects an interest in Chinese Ming ceramics that had swept through Japan in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Similar examples of Kairakuen "fahua" vases are in The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Musee Cernuschi, Paris; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
We find no examples of Kairakuen ware kabin from this period having sold at auction in the past 20 years.