Sake pot in the shape of the Hotei. Hirado. Meiji period The god of luck Hotei has a tied-up sack slung over his shoulder, in his right hand he holds a leaf fan which is removable and serves as a lid, with his left hand he supports the end of the sack which serves as a spout. The robe is underglaze blue, the sack in two different shades of brown. At the bottom in brown the large character "tera" (temple) and paper label with the printed hiragana characters "sasaki". Lid and mouth rim chipped. H 13.6 cm; L 19 cm Provenance Private collection, Düsseldorf

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