This small ovoid vase was described by Bonhams as unusual, because its figure decoration is only partially enamelled. The cream body is painted in iron-red outline, with colour deliberately omitted. It shows onlookers scattered across the surface watching a nobleman’s ox-drawn carriage pass, with attendants carrying a large chest. Above, trailing blossoms are fully decorated in coloured enamels and gilding.
The contrast between outline drawing and full colour lends the scene the quality of a sketch or a painted handscroll. It suggests how the studio’s drawing looked before enamelling. The vase is signed on the base with a gilt seal ‘Yabu Meizan’. Offered at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, London, New Bond Street, on 11 May 2017, lot 217. It realised £5,000 including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of £800–£1,200.