An Impressive Cloisonne Enamel Covered Jar ATTRIBUTED TO SUZUKI HONDA, MEIJI PERIOD of spherical form, intricately worked in silver wire with colorful enamels depicting a circle of shaped reserves enclosing winged butterflies surrounded by floral sprays against a red ground, above a band of cartouches filled with further butterflies with flower blossoms, interspersed with entwined floral sprays upon alternating panels showing confronting dragons chasing the flaming pearl and flying phoenix above flowering branches, the domed cover with floral decoration surmounted by a knob form finial with floral panels. Height 23 inches.

Property from a Prominent Midwest Collection Provenance: Fine Japanese Art, Bonham's London, November 12, 2008, lot 495 Illustrated: Fukui-shi Kanko Kyokai, eds., Fukui-shi Kanko Kyokai, Wagaya no Hihotenroku (Exhibition of Our Own Hidden Treasures), exhibition catalogue, Fukui: Fukui-shi Kanko Kyokai, 10th month, Showa 63 (Fukui-city Tourist Association, October 1988), p. 61, reference no. 20. The citation states that this covered jar was a present from the Present Emperor (Showa Emperor at that time) to the English Royal Family Exhibited: Wagaya no Hihotenroku Exhibition, Echizen City Museum, Fukui, October 1988 Note: For a similar example by Suzuki Honda see Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Bijitsukan Collection (Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum Collection): Sekkai wo miryoshita meiji no Shippo (Meiji Cloisonne which Fascinated the World), Sono Gi to Bi (The Craft and Beauty), vol 29 "copper rust color", p. 61