What does Meiji period mean on a Satsuma listing?

It refers to 1868 to 1912, the years when most export Satsuma reached the West. The word appears in 77 of 257 titles on Sellingantiques, making it the commonest period label in the category. The dated field runs 1860 to 1930, with the 1900s the largest single bucket. A good number of listings dated simply "19th Century" carry a Meiji date or a c.1890 in their own wording.

Are Satsuma vases usually sold in pairs?

Often, yes. 104 of 257 titles say "pair", so a buyer meets pairs almost as readily as singles. Larger groupings exist too. The archive holds one listing of three pairs together and two separate garnitures of four vases.

How big do Satsuma vases get?

The range is wide. At the top end are floor-standing vases stated at 38 inches and a lidded vase at 84cm, with "large" appearing in 52 titles. At the other end sit miniature vases, bud vases and mini vases on stands, with "miniature" in 10 titles. Only a handful of listings give dimensions at all.

Which Satsuma names appear most often?

Kinkozan is the name that carries the top of the range, in 37 titles from seven dealers. Yabu Meizan appears in 11 titles and Kizan in four from three dealers. Other names surface among signed pieces: Ryozan, Hozan, Seikozan, Shozan, Hotoda. Some titles record a signature, others say only "attributed to".

What subjects are painted on Satsuma vases?

Figural, floral and landscape panels dominate. Rakan or arhats, bijin, court and samurai processions, wisteria, peacocks, dragons and butterflies all recur. Crowded patterns have their own trade shorthand, repeated by unrelated dealers: 1000 Faces, Thousand Faces, 1000 Arhats, Thousand Butterflies and a thousand-flowerhead vase.

Is Satsuma pottery or porcelain?

It is an earthenware with a crackled cream glaze, and titles describe it as pottery or earthenware. The word porcelain does appear in a small number of titles, used loosely. The evidence on Sellingantiques doesn't settle which term a given dealer prefers.

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Antique Satsuma Vases

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Japanese crackle-glazed earthenware vases, enamelled and gilded over a cream body, made for export from the later nineteenth century and sold as decoration for Western rooms.