Large vase with designs of auspicious flowers and peach sprays (Hakuji enju-mon kabin)

This vase in white porcelain dates to the mature period of Itaya Hazan, an artist held in extraordinarily high regard in his native Japan and celebrated as the nationÂ’s first modern ceramicist, but relatively little known and studied elsewhere owing in part to the scarcity of his work in foreign collections. The vase, with its elegant proportions, rounded shoulder and tapered neck would have been formed on the wheel, most likely in three sections, carved once dry and then twice fired. Its acquisition by the British Museum represents a significant step in raising the profile of the artist in the UK, and in increasing understanding of HazanÂ’s work, and also of the evolution of modern ceramics in Japan.