A pair of Seto porcelain vases by Kato Sanhei, each modelled as a tied sack and standing on its own porcelain stand signed by the same hand. The sack is the fukuro, the bag of treasures carried by Hotei, the round-bellied god of contentment, and in Japan it stands for plenty with some to spare. High-fired porcelain tends to slump in the kiln, and a shape this soft and gathered gives it every chance.
Seto, near Nagoya, has made ceramics for so long that setomono became an everyday Japanese word for pottery, and in the Meiji period its workshops turned increasingly to porcelain for export and the international exhibitions. Here the whole surface is carved with seigaiha, the overlapping wave pattern, under a pale celadon-tinted glaze. Over it Sanhei painted sparrows in flight and at rest among bamboo and seasonal flowers in polychrome enamels, one of the oldest pairings in Japanese art.
The stands are porcelain rather than the usual carved wood. They are carved with the same waves, painted in the same palette and signed by Sanhei, so the four pieces were made as a set. Sets like this tend to lose a stand somewhere along the way, but this one still has all four pieces.
Condition notes
Excellent antique condition. UV inspection shows no restoration, cracks or hairlines to either vase or either stand. Minor age-related wear to the gold and enamel accents.
