Photography — SG-JP-001
Stitt Gallery · SG-JP-001 · Japan 🇯🇵
The Piece
A unique pair of ceremonial floor vases in the Kyoto Satsuma manner — 64cm each, an imposing scale that commands presence in any room. The pair is inseparable and presented as found: a tribute to the craft of the Japanese masters of the mid-20th century.
Each vase carries four sculptural Shishi lion head handles — cast, applied and gilded. The bodies are decorated with multi-figure compositions of Arhats (Buddhist sages) rendered in raised Moriage relief, a demanding technique requiring multiple applications of slip to build the three-dimensional surface.
The cream craquelure glaze — characteristic of the finest Satsuma ware — is enriched with elaborate gilding that creates an atmosphere of imperial authority. The combination of relief figure work, craquelure ground and gilding is the signature of Kyoto Satsuma at its most ambitious.
Specifications
| Origin | Japan 🇯🇵 — Kyoto Satsuma style |
| Period | Mid-20th century |
| Height | 64 cm each |
| Sold as | Inseparable matched pair |
| Handles | 4 × Shishi lion heads per vase Cast, applied, gilded |
| Decoration | Arhat figures — Moriage relief technique |
| Glaze | Cream craquelure with rich gilding |
| Condition | Good — bodies intact, no structural cracks Handles: old stable repairs to lion paw joins |
| Price | €1,450 for the pair |
| Gallery ref | SG-JP-001 |
Photography — SG-JP-001
Iconography & Technique
The Moriage technique involves building up the decoration in successive layers of slip applied to the unfired surface, creating a sculptural three-dimensional relief. It is among the most demanding decorative techniques in Japanese ceramics.
The bodies carry compositions of Arhats — Buddhist sages who have achieved enlightenment. Multi-figure scenes of this complexity require considerable skill to compose and execute in relief. A common subject in the finest Kyoto Satsuma ware.
Four Shishi (guardian lion) head handles per vase — cast separately, applied and gilded. The lion handle is a form associated with palace-scale ceramics of the Meiji and later periods.
The cream craquelure ground — a deliberately induced network of fine cracks in the glaze — is characteristic of the finest Satsuma ware. It provides the visual texture against which the gilded decoration reads most effectively.
The combination of Moriage relief, craquelure ground and elaborate gilding creates what the listing correctly describes as an "atmosphere of imperial authority" — the visual language of the most ambitious Kyoto production.
At 64cm these are floor vases of presence. They work flanking a fireplace, on pedestals in an entrance hall, or as the visual anchor of a salon. The pair quality means both rooms reads as a considered composition.
Condition note: Both vases are preserved in good visual condition. The bodies are intact with no structural cracks. Due to scale and age, the handles carry old, stable repairs at the lion paw joins — acknowledged and factored into the gallery valuation. This is noted in full transparency to the buyer.
This piece forms part of our collection of European and Asian antiques available at Stitt Gallery, Poznań.
€1,450 for the pair
This piece is available for private sale. We welcome enquiries from collectors, interior specialists and institutions. Viewing by appointment in Poznań. Shipping to Europe and internationally arranged on request.
Gallery reference: SG-JP-001 · stittgallery.com
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