Antique Japanese Cloisonne Covered Bowl Yellow With Plum Blossom Meiji 4.25"W

Japanese Cloisonné Covered Bowl — Yellow Ground with Plum Blossoms 梅 over a Spiral Wire Field, Meiji–Taisho Era

4.25″ Dia × 3.5″H (10.8 × 8.9 cm)

A Japanese cloisonné covered bowl with a domed lid and tall knob finial topped with a single blossom. The mustard-yellow ground is filled edge to edge with tightly coiled wire spirals, a labor-intensive background treatment. A green scalloped band rings the lid edge, with copper-toned rims at the lid, mouth, and foot.

Flowering plum branches in turquoise wire cross both lid and body, carrying blossoms in white, rose, deep red, and yellow-green, with paired leaves in graduated blue and green. The plum (ume 梅) is the first tree to bloom in late winter and stands for resilience and renewal. Every spiral in the ground is set by hand in fine wire before enameling, so the field alone represents hours of work.

Spiral-wire grounds were a signature of Meiji-era Japanese cloisonné workshops, especially in the Nagoya region, and are prized by collectors for their density and texture. The warm yellow ground is less common than the usual blues and blacks of the period.

A compact, cheerful piece that works well on a shelf, desk, or vanity, or as a small lidded box for keepsakes.