Vintage Japanese Sumida Gawa Jar Vase, 1920s

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Description

A hand-thrown Japanese Sumida Gawa (Sumida-yaki) jar-form vase, dating to the Taishō–early Shōwa period, circa 1920s–1930s. The low-fired earthenware body … Read more A hand-thrown Japanese Sumida Gawa (Sumida-yaki) jar-form vase, dating to the Taishō–early Shōwa period, circa 1920s–1930s. The low-fired earthenware body is of compact globular form, thrown with pronounced horizontal ribbing to the lower half and rising to a short rolled mouth, the lower body finished in a matte iron-red slip ground brushed with dark banding.

The shoulder and upper body are sheathed in a rich flambé glaze of deep treacle-brown running to mottled cobalt, powder-blue, cream and ochre, pooling and cascading in a broad curtain down over the red ground in the manner of Chinese Shiwan (Shekwan) wares, the interior glazed in a deep green-black.

Applied and modelled in high relief to one side is a figure in a flowing blue-glazed robe climbing the vessel wall over applied dark rockwork, his expressive bisque face and hands finely detailed, reaching upward toward the dripping glaze above. The base is marked "Made in Japan", consistent with export production after 1921. The vase measures 12 cm in height and 11 cm in diameter, and weighs 393 g. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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