A LARGE JAPANESE BLUE AND WHITE VASE BY MAKUZU KŌZAN (1842-1916)

A LARGE JAPANESE BLUE AND WHITE VASE BY MAKUZU KŌZAN (1842-1916)
MEIJI ERA (1868-1912), C.1900

Of tall baluster shape, with a flared foot and a wide mouth, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue with a continuous landscape, with many pine trees disappearing in the distance and mountains towering above; the base with a large mark reading Makuzu gama Kōzan sei, 58.5cm.

Cf. O Impey and J Seaman, Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period, p.24, no.10, for another baluster vase by Kōzan in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, also painted in underglaze blue with trees and mountains. The author notes that 'Kōzan was making very large vases from the 1890s onwards'. Also, see K Emerson-Dell, Bridging east and west: Japanese ceramics from the Kōzan studio, Selections from the Perry Foundation, for other examples of large underglaze blue and white vases with landscapes. The author points out that these oversized pieces were often selected to represent the best of Japanese porcelain at International Exhibitions at the turn of the 19th century. See p.14 for a similar vase at the Walters Art Gallery, originally purchased at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915.