A large Satsuma rectangular-section vase
By Okamoto Ryozan, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th centuryFinely decorated in enamels and gilt with four outdoor lakescapes during the spring, two panels depicting dense scenes of several figures of different classes including families, merchants, sightseers and revellers enjoying hanami (cherry-blossom) viewing, some depicted strolling over a drum bridge, others seated on the open-terrace veranda of a chaya (tea house) and children fishing, separated by a flowering yamazakura (mountain cherry) with its branches draped diagonally and spreading across the body and an exotic parrot perched on flowering cherry branches, the shoulder and foot with swirling overlapping brocade enclosing assorted designs including butterflies, cranes, auspicous objects, geometric and other floral motifs; signed on the base in gilt with a seal Kyoto Ryozan beneath the Yasuda Trading Company mark. 56cm (22in) high.