Description

Antique Japanese blue and white studio ware porcelain container. Made with 6 sides and a flared base. The sides are decorated with a scene of misty mountains and a small village. Small figures in a boat pole along a river which runs under a bridge and weeping willows. On one side is a poem originally by Meng Shuqing (孟淑卿), a female poet of the Ming Dynasty from Suzhou, maybe around the late 15th century, who also used the name Jingshanjushi.

The characters in blue appear to be:

嶺樹盤雲上
溪迴路轉斜
晚來烟靄会
何處問山家
辛酉晚夏日写芳雪山人 【芳】【雪】

Translation is:

Above the bank of clouds, the mountain peak’s trees
Along the meandering stream, the winding, sloped trail
Met with mist as evening comes
Asking where the mountain cottage might be

Transcribed by Hо̄setsu Sanjin on a late-summer day in the year of the metal rooster.

The seal-style characters after the signature match the main name in the signature: 芳雪 a Sino-Japanese reading of Hо̄setsu is likely. The meaning is ‘fragrant snow’. Sanjin (‘mountain person’) after this name is something some times appended to artist names in Japanese.

Dimensions: 5 5/8″ high x 4 7/8″ wide (at base) x 3 7/8″ wide (top)