As part of our Japanese works of art collection we are delighted to offer this most unusual pair of vases from the Meiji period (1868-1912) , circa 1890 , the dense hardwood vases are supported on scrolling bracket feet and lavishly decorated in mixed metals including silver, gold, shibuichi and shakudo, the sunken high relief panel on the first depicts the poetess ''Ono no Komachi'' washing a book with water to prove that the verses have been fraudulently added to the text, with a single butterfly hovering above peonies to the reverse. Vase two depicts Otomo no Kuronushi, a high ranking courtier and poet, accusing Ono Komachi of plagiarism, chrysanthemums growing from behind a rock to the reverse, each vase further decorated to each side with native flora within fan shaped cartouches, the dense hardwood bodies (probably ironwood but possibly zitan) are each signed to the remaining side with a carved signature that reads Katao, above sumptuous gold seals also translating as Katao, a wo...