This earthenware vase has a compressed, sharply angled body surmounted by a tall, waisted neck that flares to a broad mouth. The unusual silhouette is decorated simply, over a crackled transparent glaze, with a single maple tree in polychrome enamels and gilt. The tree is allowed to dominate the form without the crowded borders typical of the studio’s figure pieces.
The vase was offered by Christie’s in New York in the sale ‘An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting of Japanese and Korean Art’, a context that underlines how strongly Meizan’s work was collected in the United States. It is signed on the base. Offered at Christie’s, An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting of Japanese and Korean Art, New York, on 22 April 2015, lot 77A. It realised US$11,875 including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of US$3,000–US$4,000.