When speaking of Kyo-Satsuma's two major kilns, one immediately thinks of Kinkozan and Obiyama. The vase offered here features a bold composition characteristic of Obiyama, with bird and flower motifs in the windows on both sides of the body, and a gorgeous gold-painted decoration on the neck. The sparrows in the window paintings are depicted with extreme realism. In Obiyama's vases of this type, the background is often a solid color like red or blue, with the bird and flower motifs painted on top. However, in this piece, the use of pine needles as a background and the windowed presentation of the birds and flowers is unusual for Obiyama's work. The dimensions are 18cm in height. The base bears the hand-painted mark of Obiyama. While there is some slight wear and tear on the gold paint of the neck due to age, it is in a beautiful state of preservation with no cracks, chips, or breaks. Below is a brief biography of Obiyama for your reference: "Obiyama Yohei (9th generation) 1856-1922 A representative potter of Awataguchi, Kyoto, alongside Kinkozan. In 1878, when the 8th Yohei passed away, the second son of the 3rd Shimizu Rokubei was adopted into the Obiyama family and succeeded as the 9th Yohei. In addition to the traditional color painting techniques of Kyo-yaki, color-painted Kinrande and porcelain cloisonné were produced for export. With two main kilns, two bisque kilns, five color kilns, 11 potters, and 5 apprentices, it was a central figure in export production in Awataguchi during the Meiji period." [The Dawn of World Expositions and Modern Ceramics] I also write a blog about Meiji ceramics. Please take a look if you like: https://karatsu.hatenadiary.com/ Please be aware that there have recently been several fraudulent websites that are stealing my photos and descriptions and selling items at extremely low prices. Please be careful not to be deceived. I only sell on auction sites.