This Sumida Gawa vase is asymmetrical by design, its form built up with flowing glaze that pools and runs rather than sitting evenly across the surface, and to the front an applied figure of a small boy climbs the body of the piece — moulded, carved, and incised all at once, which is fairly typical of the style's layered approach to decoration. It's marked for Ishiguro Koko in bone script, one of the recognised names working in this tradition during the Meiji period.
Sumida Gawa ware developed in Japan largely for export to Western markets, where its thick, dripping glazes and sculptural figures — often children, animals, or genre scenes worked directly into the clay — struck buyers as distinctly different from the more restrained porcelain they were used to seeing from Japan. The style leaned into imperfection and movement rather than symmetry, which is exactly what makes a piece like this interesting to look at from more than one angle.
Condition notes
Good antique condition. Crack to the left forearm; left hand missing; repair to right ear.
