JAPANESE BRONZE VASE "HOTEI & KARAKO BOY".

Size: high 8.4", wide 5.4"

Age: Meiji (1868-1912)

Sign: Gyokuun on the right side. (Please see photo) Engraving hotei and karako boy on the vase. Very unusual bronze vase with good patina and coloration.

Good condition, no cracks, no restoration, no damage except 2 very minor bruises on the side. They are not so visible

signed to base with mark for; Fukagawa Porcelain Manufacturing Co. Ltd.,late Meiji and Taisho, c.1895-1925,blue.

Quality resembles Hirado or Nabeshima. in very good condition for its age, no chips, cracks or restoration. Approx 12 inches Fukagawa Porcelain Manufacturing Company

Fukagawa Porcelain is in a sense the culture of applied fine arts and through the material of porcelain it represents the philosophy of art entertained by Chuji Fukagawa, the founder of the company. Porcelain was originally made in China 1300 years ago and was produced in Arita for the first time in 1616. After which, porcelain was introduced to the world under the control exercised by the feudal lord of Nabeshima, or the present Saga Prefecture. Porcelain produced there was called 'Koimari'. In the Meiji era, a company was created by a group of craftsmen who sought uniformity inequality by concentrating their elaborate technique. Chuji Fukagawa aimed at attaining the ultimate goal of becoming world renown in artistic porcelain so he created the Fukagawa Porcelain trade mark if Mt. Fuji and a stream. He organized a group of top artists with likes of Kinsaku Ide and Tosui Ninomiya who produced many fine pieces to exhibit in the International Exposition held in Paris in 1900. At the exposition, they won the highest honour of a gold medal. The company was again awarded the gold medal at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904. Chuji Fukagawa's philosophy was brought to fruition in the from of a uniquely refined Fukagawa-style porcelain which is a translucent white porcelain of the Kuan-ware mode of Keitokuchin Jingdezhen. A pair of gigantic pots placed at the entrance of the Cernuschi Art Museum in Paris are the master pieces made by Chuji Fukagawa. Fukagawa has served as purveyor for the Imperial Household since 1910 and has adhered to its craftsmanship in the production observing the belief that the strength of porcelain depends on high temperature firing.