Japanese Satsuma Lamp

Description

A Japanese Satsuma pottery vase, mounted as a lamp

Description:  of tapered ovoid form with flat shoulder and waisted neck with everted mouth, decorated with figures and faces,  on the Mazarin blue ground in overglaze enamels and gilding with panels of Buddhist deities and Arhats (including Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy) in a stylised landscape, divided by bands of scrolling florettes and foliage; drilled and fitted as a lamp.

Place Of Origin:                      Japan

Condition:                                Excellent

Wear:                                         Wear consistent with age and use

Date Of Manufacture:            1900-1920s

Period:                                       Early 20th Century

Materials:                                  Japanese Satsuma  Pottery

Measurements:                         31″ Tall  (top of finial)  x 5 1/2″Diameter Base

Extra Notes:  Satsuma ware is a type of Japanese earthenware pottery.  It originated in the late 16th century, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The best know types of Satsuma ware has a soft, ivory colored, crackled glaze with elaborate polychrome and gold decorations.  Satsuma ware was made in vast numbers exclusively for the export market or for sale to the legions of tourists who visited Japan in the early part of last century and wanted a souvenir of the “exotic” East to take home with them. Later after display at an international exhibition in Paris in 1867, it proved popular as an export to Europe.  Amongst the decorative elements around the shoulder will be found a cross within a circle. This is the “Mon” or clan symbol of the Shimazu family who controlled the Satsuma region from the mid 17th Century until the Meiji revolution and is frequently found on some types of Satsuma pottery.