This small ovoid vase and cover is painted in three continuous friezes divided by geometric or floral bands. The first shows autumn flowers. The second has children taking part in New Year celebrations, and the third a fishing village before a mountainous landscape. The cover is painted with butterflies and surmounted by a chrysanthemum finial.
Arranging separate subjects in stacked registers was one of the studio’s favourite ways of compressing a whole world into a small object. Here the effect is completed by a lid that continues the decoration to the very top. The vase is signed on the underside in gilt ‘Yabu Meizan’. Offered at Bonhams, Fine Japanese and Korean Art, New York, on 24 September 2020, lot 900. It realised US$10,075 including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of US$8,000–US$12,000.