Small Kyō Satsuma vase, Japan, Meiji period, 1867-1911

Small Kyō Satsuma vase
Japan
Meiji period, 1867-1911
Dark blue ground with gold floral decoration, two very finely painted panels, one depicting a mill by a stream and two figures, the other with a rooster and a hen, a garden stone and flowers
At the bottom illegible press mark & unusual seal mark of Kinkōzan decorated with flowers
Height 16 cm

Inspired by the resounding success of southern Japanese Satsuma ceramics in Europe and America especially after the 1867 Paris World's Fair, ceramicist Kinkōzan Sōbei, sixth generation of his lineage (1824-1884), began producing extremely finely decorated Satsuma-style ceramics in 1870 at his studio in Awadaguchi, Higashiyama, Kyoto. Kinkōzan had previously worked primarily for the Shōren'in, a temple close to the Imperial Family, and the Tokugawashogune (to whom he owed his name), but lost substantial takers as a result of the Meiji Restoration.
Kinkōzan's decision was spot on; under his successors, his workshop grew to over 700 employees, and pieces from his production are now on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Musee Guimet in Paris, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others.