Imperial-Yellow Japanese Cloisonné Enamel Tray With Phoenix Medallion, Showa Era

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A refined rectangular cloisonné enamel tray on copper, its field finished in a saturated imperial yellow and centered by a … Read more A refined rectangular cloisonné enamel tray on copper, its field finished in a saturated imperial yellow and centered by a roundel bearing a stylized hō-ō (phoenix) in swirling clouds. The composition is quietly formal: a fine key-fret line frames the interior, set back from the lightly cavetto walls to leave a clean margin of color, while the outer rim presents a narrow band of exposed, naturally patinated copper that reads as a fine picture frame around the enamel surface. The reverse is fully counter-enameled in matching yellow for stability and a finished presentation, with four small gilt-metal corner tabs neatly soldered as feet so the tray rests just off the surface.

Executed in vitreous enamel over a copper substrate, the decoration has been built with hairline copper cloisons that define the phoenix feathers and the encircling scrolls within the central medallion, then filled with subtly variegated greys and white before being fired and stone-polished to a soft gloss. The evenness of the yellow ground—an unforgiving color in the kiln—speaks to competent postwar workmanship. The underside carries a small transfer mark reading “MADE IN JAPAN,” a standard export legend that locates the piece to the early Showa decades, most plausibly the 1950s–60s, when Japanese ateliers produced elegant, modern cloisonné for Western markets while retaining classical East Asian iconography.

The phoenix, long an emblem of virtue and auspicious renewal, is crisply drawn here, its wings and tail creating a dynamic spiral that echoes the medallion’s circular boundary. Paired with the courtly yellow ground—a color traditionally associated with rank—the tray has the restraint and dignity of mid-century Japanese design, poised between tradition and modernism. At 12.625 inches wide, 8.875 inches deep, and approximately 0.5 inches high, it is an ideal scale for use as a desk, dresser, or cocktail tray, and handsome enough simply to display on a stand. See less