This vase has a compressed ovoid body on a slightly splayed foot and an elongated neck. Around the body runs a continuous scene of women and children at the various stages of textile production, one of the documentary craft subjects in which the studio specialised. The neck carries two shaped panels, one with a thrush in blossoming wisteria and the other with a landscape of flowering cherry trees.
Around the panels are scattered chrysanthemum blossoms, above a border of barbed lappets filled with flowers. Geometric bands and scrolling floral vines finish the foot and mouth. The vase is painted on a clear crackled glaze and signed on the underside in gilt ‘Yabu Meizan’. Offered at Bonhams, Fine Japanese and Korean Art incl. Collection of Drs. Edmund and Julie Lewis, New York, on 22 July 2020, lot 1054. It realised US$16,325 including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of US$20,000–US$30,000.