A MEIJI PERIOD ‘MONKEYS AND PEACHES’ BALUSTER VASE BY ISHIGURO KOKO Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912). Molded, carved and incised to one side with three monkeys, two of them wearing short-sleeved shirts, the naked monkey holding up a small peach, and to the other side with a robed monkey picking up a peach from a large bowl, all seated on craggy rockwork. A raised cartouche with the artist signature Ishiguro Koko above the foot.Provenance: Old private estate in Lower Austria. An Austrian private collector, acquired from the above.Condition: Old wear and firing flaws, several smaller chips with old repairs and associated touchups.Weight: 5,822 gDimensions: Height 47.3 cmThe upper exterior and interior are both covered in a flambe glaze with bold tones of dark and pale blue, crimson red, russet, and lavender, pooling irregularly around the shoulder. Thickly potted, the sides rising from the flat circular base to a broad neck with an everted floriform rim.