Satsuma ware boasts over 400 years of ceramic production history in Satsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture. This pair of bowls vividly depicts a rooster surrounded by the “Four Gentlemen” (a collective term for bamboo, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, and orchids), subjects common in Oriental painting, alongside sparrows flying amidst tangled autumn grasses. It is a splendidly luxurious work known as “Kinrande,” featuring colored glaze enhanced with gold decoration.

B-204: Bonsai pot with shikunshi (the Four Gentlemen: plum, chrysanthemum, orchid, and bamboo) and rooster motifs in overglaze enamel.

B-205: Bonsai pot with autumn greenery and sparrow motifs in overglaze enamel.

This pot was created by Tanomogi Keikichi, who worked as the Minister of Communications and Transportation and mayor of Tokyo in the early years of Showa era (1926). Tanomogi had a residence in Owada (present day Minuma Ward), which is near Omiya Bonsai Village. He kept many bonsai there and was known to have had a great love for Ezo spruce. He would also visit Omiya Bonsai Village on occasion. He built a kiln in his residence in 1932 and fired this piece there. He named it Komeizan, planted an Ezo spruce in it, and loved it dearly. It is said that this piece is very fitting for Ezo spruce because it absorbs water well and evaporates quickly.