The reverse is signed “Tai Min Seika Nen Sei” (Great Ming Chenghua Year Made) painted in underglaze blue within a blue ring on the glazed foot. This is an apocryphal six-character reign mark of Chenghua, a Chinese emperor in the Ming Dynasty who set very high porcelain standards. To the left of the reign mark is another blue mark with four characters which reads "Nabeshima Seizan.” Seizan was a Nabeshima kiln which produced studio pieces in elegant Nabeshima style during the Meiji period. The foot ring is unglazed, and there is one spur mark.

Nabeshima ware is considered to be the most Japanese of all the porcelains and the most technically perfect. It was made at Okawachi, north of Arita, and was named after the prince who founded the kilns at the end of the 17th century. The porcelain was of much higher quality than that made for export and was originally made as presentation ware for the local nobility. Production was limited, and less than perfect specimens were destroyed. Its elegance was considered to be the epitome of refinement, and production methods were kept a carefully guarded secret. From 1868 on, Nabeshima wares were produced for domestic use and Western export.

“Hariko” is a papier-mache folk toy. The dog (“inu”) is much feared by evil fox, badger and cat spirits, as it can instantly recognize them when they have taken human form. Dog images, particularly the inu hariko, were protective charms believed to offer protection for a safe birth and for babies.

The front side is decorated with a fan cartouche in which a large gold bird of prey sits on a thick pine branch. There are two small gold birds. On the back, the curvilinear cartouche contains inlaid flowers and rocks with a small bird, all done in gold and silver. Two silver and gold medallions with silver taka-zogan dots decorate the handle. The inlays were executed using the various techniques of “hira-zogan” (flat inlay), “taka-zogan” (relief inlay) and “nunome-zogan” (sometimes classified as an overlay or an onlay technique as opposed to an inlay one inasmuch as there are no grooves cut for the inlaid metals.)

Tetsubin are cast iron water kettles which were popular in Japan as everyday household utensils and for informal and semi-formal tea drinking. During the second half of the 19th century, tetsubin made especially as tea utensils came to be highly esteemed. They were often elaborately decorated with cast iron relief ornament or with gold and silver inlays. Fine ornamental tetsubin of this type were preferred by the upper classes for the sencha style tea ceremony. At the time they were originally produced, tetsubin with gold and silver inlays were five to ten times more expensive than those without, so they have always been highly valued, rare and difficult to acquire.

Tetsubin can be classified according to their level of quality, separating those of higher technical quality and more decorative external features – the so-called “ornamental” kettles – from those of lower technical quality and less decorated ones. Inlaid ornamental tetsubin like this one are magnificent examples of Japanese ironwork which are very much sought after by collectors today.

To Japanese women, hair ornaments were much more than mere accessories to feminine hair-do and attire. The comb progressed from a utilitarian object to a highly decorative one on which craftsmen and artists lavished their imagination and skill. In keeping with their inclination to beautify even ordinary items of everyday use, the Japanese turned hair ornaments into extraordinary artistic objects that mirrored the cultural and social history of the period. They reflected the life and status of their wearers, who were geisha, courtesans, ladies in the court and women in their homes. In their own small way, combs and hairpins provide a miniature glimpse of the exceptional beauty of Japanese art. (See the wonderful article “Combs and Hairpins” by Sharon Ziesnitz and Takeguchi Momoko in DARUMA 35, Summer 2002.)

Incense (“ko”) played an important role in the tea ceremony, which provided a setting for the admiration of the utensils associated with it. Among the most charming of these were the kogo, small covered containers used to store aromatic wood chips which were burned at certain points during the formal tea ceremony. They were also sometimes set out as display objects within special waiting rooms where guests could relax before the ceremony began or during scheduled interludes. Exhibiting a great deal of imagination, careful observation of nature and a playful sense of humor, kogo naturally came to be enjoyed outside their role as objects to be used and admired in the tea ceremony. They were exchanged as gifts and treasured for their own sake, and their popularity gave rise to a seemingly endless variety of shapes and decorative styles.

The potters who made kogo took pride in creating highly original and often intricate forms. Many of the boxes have ornamental surface decorations, and others are treated as miniature sculptures. The production of kogo was at its peak during the first half of the 19th century. During this period, it was common practice for potters to sign or stamp their names on their work. The most extensive collection of antique Japanese ceramic kogo – more than three thousand -- can be found in The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. (See “Japanese Incense Boxes Rediscovered: The Georges Clemenceau Kogo Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.”)