ANTIQUE SATSUMA JAPANESE MEIJI ERA (1868-1912) MILLEFLEUR BOX WITH SHIMAZU CIRCLE WITH CROSS MARK

BEAUTIFUL HAND DECORATED WITH FINE GOLD OUTLINE JAPANESE SATSUMU RECTANGULAR TRINKET BOX.
WITH THE FAMOUS RED CIRCLE WITH A GOLD CROSS MARK OF THE SHIMAZU DAIMYO CLAN MARK OVER THE GLAZE ON THE UNDERSIDE WHICH IS A GOOD SIGN THAT THE PIECE IS A GENUINE ANTIQUE.

JAPANESE FIGURES AND A DRAGON WITH DAIMYO OVERLOOKING FINELY PAINTED IN A HIGHLY DECORATIVE MILLE-FLEUR (ELABORATE) STYLE WITH VERY FINE GOLD OUTLINES. THE INTERIOR HAS A SIMPLER PAINTING OF A TWO JAPANESE MEN.

THIS BEAUTIFUL SATSUMA BOX AND COVER DATES FROM THE JAPANESE MEIJI-ERA, (1868-1912).
SIGNED TO BASE AND ON THE SIDES THE SHIMAZU CREST (CIRCLE WITH CROSS).

SATSUMA MARKS:
Gold characters on a red lozenge ground hand painted over glaze. FIRST WE HAVE THE SHIMAZU DAIMYO CLAN MARK OF CIRCLE WITH CROSS INSIDE. BELOW THIS WE FIND THE HAKUSAN FACTORY MARK THAT DID THE PAINTING. HAKUSAN WAS A SMALL FACTORY BUT VERY CONSISTENT HIGH QUALITY IN THE MEIJI, LATE 19TH CENTURY PERIOD. THE HAKUSAN SCRIPT ALSO TRANSLATES AS WHITE MOUNTAIN INFERRING TO MOUNT HAKU(SAN), A VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN.
 
These marks started becoming common from around 1870, so very early pieces may actually be unmarked. If your mark is written in the English language and particularly if it reads Made in Japan, it is a later piece.
 
You will very often see a circle mark with a cross in it on the underside of a piece or sometimes incorporated as part of the design. This is the Shimazu Mon, which is the crest of the daimyo family (feudal lord) that ruled Satsuma island.
 
SIZE: 14,5CM WIDE 11CM DEEP 6CM HIGH
CONDITION: LID HAS A CRACK ON THE SIDE. PLEASE SEE PHOTOS. ARTWORK STILL BEAUTIFUL.
 
SATSUMA WARE:
SATSUMA WARE IS A TYPE OF EARTHENWARE POTTERY ORIGINATING FROM THE SATSUMA PROVINCE IN SOUTHERN KYŪSHŪ, JAPANS THIRD LARGEST ISLAND.
Satsuma ware is perhaps one of the most well known of the Japanese pottery styles often richly decorated with fine detail and liberal use of gold.  The name comes from the region controlled by the Shimazu clan (Satsuma-han - officially Kagoshima and surrounding areas).  The history goes back much further to around 1600 when Satsuma pottery was generally plain and in dark clay, very different from the 19th century pieces made for export to the West.
The first presentation of Japanese Arts to the West was in 1867 and Satsuma ware was one of the star attractions. This helped to establish the aesthetic we are most familiar with today. This export style reflects the international tastes of the time. Usually decorated with a minute decoration with Japanese figures, expressive faces or detailed oriental landscapes, or sometimes embellished with vivid dragons in relief.
The height of popularity for Satsuma ware was the early Meiji period, from around 1885. Satsuma ware became synonymous with Japanese ceramics and was still being produced by some factories as late as the 1980s.
 
PLEASE ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED. I HAVE VARIOUS PORCELAIN ITEMS ALSO ON AUCTION THIS WEEK. COPY THE URL UNDERNEATH AND PASTE INTO GOOGLE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO ALL MY LISTINGS THIS WEEK. NOTE ALL MY AUCTIONS END AT 22H30 SO IT IS ADVISABLE TO PUT IN AN AUTOMATIC BID (HIGHEST PRICE YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY) EARLY.
https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/seller/3685641/ErnRex1545

NOTE I HAVE VARIOUS COTTAGEWARE AND OTHER ENGLISH COUNTRY STYLE HOME HAND PAINTED DECORATED TEAPOTS ON AUCTION THIS WEEK.