Toujaku - Sometsuke Painted Cascade w/ Patina - 3⅜ in (88mm)

Hand carved from a block of porcelain comes this fabulous Sometsuke painted cascade pot from Toujaku. Practical Mame / small Shohin size.

The scene is a continuous view of a body of water, and after a little while of thinking about the scene, you realise that this view is from a small island, and we the viewer are situated quite high up, looking down on birds and boats.

There is something else quite playful here - imagining ourselves in the painting, on the island, we are looking outwards at our surroundings; and yet the painting is on a round object, the pot, which in the real world, is not unlike a small island itself. Clever stuff, and I'm sure entirely intentional.

The painting itself is carefully done with fine brushstrokes and very little blurring from the overglaze, there's a good sense of depth, and any point could be the front, accompanying a tree that moves to the left or right.

Age wise, porcelain takes a while to patinate, so my thoughts are 40-50 years.