208 - MATSUMOTO HOZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY: A VERY LARGE (46 CM) AND IMPRESSIVE SATSUMA CERAMIC ‘AUTUMN AND SPRING’ VASE

MATSUMOTO HOZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY: A VERY LARGE (46 CM) AND IMPRESSIVE SATSUMA CERAMIC ‘AUTUMN AND SPRING’ VASE By Matsumoto Hozan, signed Matsumoto Hozan with the Yasuda company and Shimazu clan marks Japan, c. 1900, Meiji period (1868-1912) Of imposing baluster form, the heavily potted body supported on a short splayed foot, with high rounded shoulders rising to a waisted neck and broad circular mouth with a thickened rim. The exterior finely decorated in vivid polychrome enamels and gilt with two large opposing panels presenting contrasting seasonal scenes. One depicts two ducks in flight beside a flowering plum tree on a riverbank, emblematic of spring, while the other shows five richly attired boys caught in a gust of wind playing kakurenbo (hide-and-seek) beneath maple trees, their reddened foliage evoking autumn. The panels are reserved against a deep cobalt-blue ground richly embellished in gilt with scrolling karakusa, stylized flowers and butterflies, ho-o (phoenix) roundels, and hollyhock crests. The foot is encircled by a formal foliate border, while the shoulder and neck are further enriched with elaborate geometric and ornamental bands. The underside signed in gilt MATSUMOTO HOZAN beneath the Yasuda Company mark and Shimazu clan crest. HEIGHT 46 cm Provenance: Christie’s, 30 June 1981, London, lot 172. A private collection, acquired from the above. Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, 17 May 2018, London, lot 421. French private collection, acquired from the above. Condition: Excellent condition, with no restorations or repairs visible under UV light. Some very light typical rubbing to gilding. Matsumoto Hozan (active circa 1900) was a Kyoto-based Satsuma artist and decorator active during the late Meiji period, whose name appears on a group of particularly finely decorated wares, frequently in association with the Yasuda Company. His works are variously signed Matsumoto Hozan and Dai Nihon Kyoto Matsumoto Hozan, while examples made for Yasuda additionally bear the firm's distinctive trade mark. Hozan specialized in elaborate polychrome and gilt decoration, often juxtaposing large pictorial reserves of figures, landscapes, or birds and flowers with densely ornamented cobalt-blue grounds enriched with scrolling foliage, geometric borders, and auspicious motifs. The present vase is an especially ambitious example of his work, distinguished by its imposing scale and carefully conceived seasonal contrast between spring and autumn, while the exceptionally rich surrounding ornament exemplifies the sophisticated decorative vocabulary associated with Hozan's production for Yasuda. The Yasuda Company, founded in 1896 by Yasuda Genshichi and Yasuda Kizaburo, was one of the leading Kyoto firms associated with the production of fine Satsuma wares during the late Meiji period. Renowned for its high standards and careful selection of collaborators, the company worked with accomplished artists including Ryozan, Sozan, Kizan, Hozan, and Seikozan, producing elaborately decorated export wares that exemplify the technical refinement of Meiji-period Satsuma ceramics. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related slightly smaller Satsuma earthenware vase, decorated with beauties with attendants and cranes in flight, by Matsumoto Hozan, lacking the Yasuda company mark, 41.2 cm high, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese and Korean Art, 21 March 2018, New York, lot 2199 (sold for USD 7,500 or approx. EUR 8,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).