Collection 4. Ando

Ando Jubei was one of the great master cloisonne enamelers of his time, able to sell to the Royal Household. […]

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Totai Vases

See also the Japanese Totai Jars page. Totai is used here to describe cloisonné on ceramics, earthenware, and porcelain. Vase 77 […]

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72. Familar and blue

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This is an attractive pair of vases in a familar shade of blue. The main decoration is a floral array […]

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70. Ceramic butterflies in blue

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The main decoration on this pair of vases are the butterflies. That said, the contrasting colour scheme of the background […]

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68. How spiral necklaces evolved away

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As the number of Japanese cloisonne objects covered by this website grows there are more and more ‘collections’. That is, […]

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66. Canvas in blue and black

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This lovely large six sided vase provides lots of scope for attractive design.  Birds race up and down within a […]

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Blue Features

Certain vases with a strong blue element share a general style of decoration based on complex symmetrical patterns in the […]

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65. Richly decorated and with stylish houou birds

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This attractive small four lobed vase is covered with lovely details. There are two main panel decorations each repeated twice. […]

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62. Houou bird uncaged

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Often when we see a design with a phoenix or houou bird it is combined with a dragon. In some […]

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Dragons

Dragon and phoenix (houou bird) decoration is a very popular form of decoration on Japanese cloisonne objects. The dragon images […]

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59. A familiar phoenix

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This relatively modern vase has the dragon and houou bird theme seen many times before here. It contrasts wonderfully with […]

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58. Can you rely on a roundel?

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This next object is a pretty little vase in the now familiar Kyoto coins and roundels style. Some of the […]

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C6. Takatani Kenzaburou workshop

The Kyoto based workshop of Takatani Kenzaburou 高谷謙三郎 is often known from the factory photograph presented as a stereoview (marked […]

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57. Roundel and roundel

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This lovely six lobed vase is covered in coins and roundels as well as neat and distinctive small gilded ‘strength […]

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55. Birds among the flowers

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This is a bright and attractive vase with two birds patrolling a rich floral landscape. There are butterflies, daisy like […]

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Collection 5. Blue squares and super spirals

Many workshops added brightness to traditional cloisonne by adding metal foil under transparent enamel. This became more sophisticated over time […]

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50. Birds and dragons

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This very large 18″ tall vase (45.7 cm) is in the classic phoenix and dragon style. The large size (compared […]

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49. Simply Kyoto

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This simple vase is in what is by now a very recognisable style. There are roundels and coins and a […]

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48. Swirls of brown

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This lovely vase has curves in every direction. It is a little similar to the last pair of vases we […]

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47. A study in brown

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This pair of small vases have a simple design with lots of interesting small touches. Each is round with four […]

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46. Going roundel

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This next six lobed vase is very attractive, and is similar in several respects to earlier objects we have seen. […]

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Collection 8. Scattered flowers

Usually this website only starts a collection once at least three objects suggest a clear connection. Here there are (so […]

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45. Scattering flowers

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This lovely vase was instantly familiar but at the same time very different. It is the scattered five petal motif […]

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44. A subtle shade of red

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This is a lovely tiny pair of vases, designed in mirror fashion though with some freedom in the minor details. […]

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