Collectible Tobacciana / Trinket Dish, Hand-Painted Samurai, Satsuma Style, Enamel Moriage & Gilded, Japan, Vintage 1960s–1970s

Hand-painted. Enamel-raised. Gilded. Three techniques on a surface three inches wide.

• Style: Satsuma — hand-painted Samurai, enamel moriage raised decoration, gilded accents
• Material: Ceramic earthenware
• Dimensions: 3.0" diameter
• Era: Vintage, circa 1960s–1970s
• Origin: Japan
• Condition: Vintage used, very good. Slight roughness on base; no chips. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.

Today it serves beautifully as a trinket dish, a ring holder, coin dish, a small catchall on a vanity or desk, or a decorative accent on a shelf or in a chinoiserie display. A wonderful find for a Satsuma collector, a Japanese ceramics enthusiast, a lover of chinoiserie or Asian-inspired décor, or anyone drawn to the patience and precision of traditional Japanese decorative craft.

This is a vintage Japanese Satsuma-style ceramic piece — hand-painted with a Samurai figure in delicate enamel moriage with gilded accents. The piece is a small study in Japanese decorative craft at its most meticulous. Satsuma-style ware, named for the Satsuma domain of Kyushu where the tradition originated, is characterized by its cream earthenware body, hand-painted figural scenes, and the distinctive moriage technique — a method of building up raised enamel decoration by applying slip or enamel in layers to create a three-dimensional surface texture. Here the Samurai figure is rendered with fine brushwork, the details picked out in raised enamel and touched with gold. Unmarked, as was common with Japanese export ware of this period. Dating based on design style and production characteristics to the mid-century through early 1970s — a period when Satsuma-style pieces were among the most actively exported Japanese decorative ceramics to the Western market.