Only a little over six centimetres high, this miniature vase shows how far the Meizan studio could refine a simple idea. Its body is an inverted, bulbous form with a short narrow neck. It is raised on a tall conical foot cut with three trefoil-arched openings, which gives the small piece an architectural lightness. The decoration is restrained by the studio’s standards: sprays of wisteria in lilac, blue and gold hang from the shoulder over an otherwise open cream glaze.
The vase was among the Meizan wares given to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1910 by Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Dingwall DSO, with Art Fund support. The base carries the mark ‘Yabu Meizan’ in a square gilt panel. Because the vase can be dated securely to its acquisition, it serves as a useful reference for this form of the studio’s mark. Its spare treatment also anticipates the more open, single-motif style associated with Meizan’s work around 1910.