AN UNUSUAL JAPANESE MALACHITE AND AGATE-INLAID BRONZE DISH

AN UNUSUAL JAPANESE MALACHITE AND AGATE-INLAID BRONZE DISH
MEIJI/TAISHŌ, 20TH CENTURY

Decorated with a small sparrow observing a firefly in the rain, the small bird perched amongst large lotus leaves emerging from a stream; with details highlighted in hardstone and mixed metals; raised on a short foot and with a long inscription to the base reading as Dai Nippon Ecchū koku Takaoka jū, Seizō nin, Kurotani tsu emon; 34cm.