Japanese Ceramic Decorated Vase by Makuzu Kozan

Persimmons the color of a lit match, shaded by blue leaves.

Japanese potters made this decorated porcelain vase in Japan in the late 19th or early 20th century. Porcelain vases with painted fruit and foliage are commonly made as decorative display pieces in Japan. Here, large orange-red fruit with small dark marks hang among broad leaves in underglaze blue. The white glaze is clean and glossy, and the form swells at the shoulders before narrowing to a gently flared mouth and a short foot. The painting wraps the body in one continuous, loose arrangement.

About 7 inches tall. Small, sweet and fruit-forward.