A PAIR OF IMARI PORCELAIN BOTTLE VASES, Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912)

h cm 29

The body is finely painted with naturalistic landscapes featuring a geisha in a garden, interspersed with lobed reserves. In these reserves, a dragon amidst clouds faces a leopard in a rocky landscape with trees. At the mouth, a red-ground band with peonies is interrupted by lobed reserves containing auspicious symbols. The base bears an apocryphal six-character mark of Emperor Chenghua.