This stunning--positively luminous!--hand thrown porcelain lidded vessel, with lush cobalt blue hand-painted ginkgo leaf design over white glaze, is a truly exquisite thing, but I have not been able to figure out anything at all about it. It is signed--exuberantly!--on the bottom in a calligraphic manner that I have not been able to decipher, but which seems to indicate a pleased and confident maker! It feels simultaneously very old and quite modern, and is indisputably very fine; this feels like a museum piece. The form, I believe, at least references that of a Japanese Mizushashi or cold water container, used in tea ceremony.
This canister is in good overall condition, with one hairline crack near the lip of the vessel on one side, as documented, and a a bit of dark stain on the handle of the lid--also documented. It measures 5 7/8" in diameter and 5 1/2" with lid (without lid 5 3/8" tall).
I purchased this piece from the estate sale of an artist, architect, librarian and great collector in Melrose, MA that included fine objects from around the world.
