A NEAR-PAIR OF JAPANESE SATSUMA ABALONE SHELL-SHAPED BOWLS.

Meiji period.

Each formed as a large shell with an interior lavishly painted in enamels and gilt, the first with figures of archats beneath blooming prunus trees, the second with scholars appreciating a scroll, the rims embellished with floral and brocade patterns, the reverse realistically modelled with various molluscs and seaweed, 32cm long. (2)