Kutani-ware porcelain tokkuri with fine scenic detail, vintage

Purchased from an estate sale in Seattle, this fine tokkuri came from a collector's home and suggests a high level of mastery and detail. Each of the scenes, fans and shapes, background and foreground patterns, are hand-painted by a veteran artist. Scenes of swallows in a bamboo forest, mountain lakes, chrysanthemums, bridges, and misty afternoons with a minutely-detailed background in gold filigree. All of the hallmarks of a handmade piece (improvisation, use of a turntable to make circumferential lines) add charm. Underglaze is raku-fired (cracked glaze) adding an element of age.

The bottom is hand-signed to indicate "kutani"-- 9 valleys, the fine ceramics of Ishikawa prefecture.

I'm not formally equipped to assess value to a high level of accuracy...so my loss is your gain. This pricing is based on estimates of much lower quality tokkuri in Kanazawa.

Capacity is ~250ml, dimensions 7cm (base) by 15cm (height).