Japanese Totai "Tree Bark" - Sea Wave & Flying Bird

A crane in silver wire glides across a surface as rough as bark, over waves that curl like ferns.

This Japanese totai tree bark vessel, Sea Wave & Flying Bird, comes from Japan and dates to the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912 CE), in cloisonne and porcelain. Totai, cloisonne enamel worked over a porcelain body, was a Meiji-era specialty, the textured bark ground among its best-known finishes. The baluster body is covered in a pitted, dark plum-brown ground. A crane in silver and gray wirework flies across the shoulder while stylized waves with curling crests rise around the lower half. An orange zigzag band rings the neck. It is 6 inches high.

The crane seems untroubled by the bark, or the sea.