This conical tea bowl, 6.5 centimetres high and twelve centimetres across, places its principal scene inside. A circular panel in the well shows a warlord with a group of fully armoured samurai gathered before a war curtain, receiving a visitor. The panel is bordered by a profusion of tiny butterflies. The exterior offers a gentler subject: ladies in elaborate headdresses, accompanied by children, in a bamboo grove.
Bonhams catalogued the bowl as by Yabu Meizan of Osaka. It is signed on the base ‘Yabu Meizan’ within a gilt seal. Offered at Bonhams, Polish and Poise: Japanese Art across the Centuries, London New Bond Street, on 12 May 2022, lot 188. It realised £7,650 including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of £6,000–£8,000.