Ritas Bazaar has dated this Japanese Sumida Gawa Vase to the 1910s.
The body is built in iron-rich earthenware and finished with the deep coral-red slip characteristic of Sumida, here worked with incised and impressed surface textures that recall aged bark or weathered wood. Flowing from the mouth and shoulder, a dramatic drip glaze in cobalt blue, pale celadon, and aubergine-black cascades irregularly down the upper half of the vessel, pooling at the edges of the red ground below in a deliberately "mountainous" or "waterfall" effect prized by the Sumida kilns. The rim and high points catch a warm amber-brown, while the cavities hold deeper blues and greens.
Emerging from the red slip is a fully three-dimensional karako (唐子 — Chinese-style boy) in porcelain, modeled with twin hair tufts and a spotted blue-and-white robe, scrambling upward and grasping what appears to be a blue wand or branch.
The applied karako is separately modeled in porcelaneous white with underglaze cobalt blue and fired with the vessel.
On the lower body, an applied porcelain teardrop cartouche bears the underglaze cobalt blue signature Kōko (光湖), consistent with marks associated with Ishiguro Kōko.
Height 19 cm. Weight 400 g. In very good antique condition, with light surface abrasion and minor glaze imperfections commensurate with age and use; no restorations, no cracks, the karako and all applied elements intact.
Ritas Bazaar has dated this Japanese Sumida Gawa Vase to the 1910s.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Ritas Bazaar Profile Page
Japanese Sumida Gawa Baluster Vase with Applied Karako Figure, Signed Kōko — Meiji / Early Taishō Period
