Meizan Vase, late 19th century

The baluster body richly decorated with petal-shaped panels variously enclosing boys playing musical instruments, traditional multi-storey buildings in mountainous landscapes, further boys climbing on a giant lantern, monkeys eating peaches, more boys at play and many butterflies amongst chrysanthemum; some panels with hidden signatures reading Meizan; with bands of complex brocade patterns, geometric designs and scrolling tendrils above the foot, to the shoulder and neck, the rim painted to the inside with a further band of scrolling tendrils delicately rendered in gilt on the black ground, the base with a square seal mark for Meizan sei, 12.2cm.