Vase in a globe form ornamented in low relief with a white owl alighting on the branch of a chestnut tree against a celadon green ground. Of carved and glazed porcelain. Signed on the reverse with a carved signature within a circular border by the artist: Sozan (Suwa Sozan I, 1851 – 1922). Late Meiji era, circa 1890 – 1912.

With a period storage box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Seiji Kabin or Celadon Vase, and Suwa Sozan Saku or Made by Suwa Sozan.

Suwa Sozan I was one of the most celebrated ceramists working in the late 19th and first decades of the 20th century. A Kyoto artist, his work reveals a masterful command of glaze and carving. An exhibitor at both domestic and international exhibitions, Sozan was appointed a Teishitsu Gigei-in or Imperial Court Artist in 1917. His porcelains are in the Imperial Collections, in those of the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum, and in the Sumitomo Collection.