227 - † TOKUDA YASOKICHI III (DESIGNATED LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE): A FINE KUTANI-GLAZED PORCELAIN ‘CAT’S EYE’ FLOWER VASE

† TOKUDA YASOKICHI III (DESIGNATED LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE): A FINE KUTANI-GLAZED PORCELAIN ‘CAT’S EYE’ FLOWER VASE By Tokuda Yasokichi III (1933-2009), signed Kutani Masahiko Japan, late 20th century, Showa (1926-1989) to Heisei period (1989-2019) Magnificently potted, the globular body supported on a circular foot and rising to rounded shoulders surmounted by a short, waisted neck with a narrow mouth. The exterior is superbly covered in a rich, lustrous midnight-blue glaze with streaked effects and a slender cat-eye motif in lighter shades of blue and green, the glaze attractively pooling on the interior below the mouth. The recessed base left unglazed, bearing an impressed foliate design below the signature KUTANI MASAHIKO. HEIGHT 15.6 cm Condition: Excellent condition. With the original signed and inscribed wood tomobako (storage box) and a biographical note on the artist. Tokuda Yasokichi III was designated a Bearer of Important Intangible Cultural Assets (a ‘Living National Treasure’) in 1997 for his mastery of the innovative saiyu glaze technique, based on traditional Kutani colored glaze enamels as handed down from his grandfather and father, Tokuda Yasokichi I (1873-1956) and Tokuda Yasokichi II (1907-1997). Before he succeeded his father in 1988 as Tokuda Yasokichi III, the artist was known as Tokuda Masahiko. Museum comparison: Compare a related spherical Kutani glazed porcelain vase, also with a ‘cat’s eye’ design, signed by Tokuda Yasokichi III, dated 2001, 16.5 cm high, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 2001.734. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related Kutani glazed porcelain ‘cat’s eye’ vase, by Tokuda Yasokichi III, dated to the late 20th-early 21st century, 27.9 cm high, at Zacke, Fine Japanese Art, 12 June 2026, Vienna, lot 172 (sold for EUR 14,300). 13% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.