Japanese Totai "Tree Bark" Vase Depicting Birds & Blossoms

A small bird perches on a bark-textured branch, and the vase grew the bark around it.

This Japanese totai or tree bark vase depicting birds and blossoms is from Japan, Meiji period (1868 – 1912 CE), in cloisonne and porcelain. Totai, meaning roughly tree porcelain, was developed during the Meiji period, combining cloisonne enamel with a coarse bark-like ground over porcelain. The bottle has a round body and a long slender neck. Its brown surface is incised like bark, with a bird in tan and orange on a branch beside red blossoms and dark leaves. The neck ends in a smooth band of geometric enamel. It is 8.38 inches high and 3.75 in diameter.

Nature, in a vase that pretends to be nature.