Pair of baluster-shaped porcelain vases with collars is embellished with dragons in high relief wrapped around each vase Imari decoration consisting of a frieze of palmettes on the base in underglaze cobalt blue and a decoration on the body depicting large figures accompanied by reserves containing birds. The decoration is in multicoloured enamel, predominantly iron red.

Japan

Late Edo or early Meiji period, circa 1860-1880

Inscription : Bearing the handwritten mark Hichozan Shinpo

Height : 63 cm

Hichozan Shinpo. Hichozan was the trade name used by Tashiro Monzaemon, a manufacturer and trader who grouped together kilns and other Arita manufacturers mainly for export, from the end of the Edo era to the middle of the Meiji period in the 19th century. Around 1855, porcelain merchants such as Tashiro Monzaemon of Honkôbira obtained permission from the authorities of the fiefdom of Nabeshima to trade directly with sales outlets in Japan, thus developing the domestic market, but also the right to deal directly with foreign countries, thus developing international trade.
Various examples of porcelain with this mark are present in several major museums such as the British Museum or the Museum of Tokyo.