Pair of Imari vases; Japan, Arita period, late 19th century.

Pair of Imari vases; Japan, Arita period late nineteenth century.
Glazed porcelain.
It has slight damage and one of them has a fracture line.
They have marks on the base.
Measurements: 91 x 34 cm (x2).
Pair of vases of ovoid body, completely enameled with profusion of vegetable, floral and fruit motives: the corollas wave gracefully on stylized bouquets in cerulean and earthy tones on white. In addition, both the front and reverse sides are also decorated with figurative scenes. The long neck opens with a mouth in a wavy rim.
The main characteristic of the Imari style is the use of underglaze cobalt blue glaze, combined with other overglaze glazes, mainly iron red and gilding. When it also includes gilding, as we see here, it is called Imari Nishiki. Imari pieces were produced in Japan from the third quarter of the seventeenth century until 1730-35, although there was a revival of the style during the nineteenth century. Decoratively, Imari is very free, with compositions that occupy the entire space of the piece, generally asymmetrical, combining different motifs and cartouches of various shapes, as we see here.