Who are the people on this moriage Japanese Satsuma vase?
October 6, 2015 3:27 PM   Subscribe

I recently bought a Japanese vase with three people on it--two men and one women. Does anyone know who they are? The woman is surrounded by a halo. Any insight would be most appreciated.
posted by mortaddams to Media & Arts (5 answers total)
 
Best answer: The halo makes me think it might be Amaterasu. If that's true, then the two men are probably Susanoo and Tsukuyomi. But that's a guess without too much to back it up.
posted by figurant at 4:14 PM on October 6, 2015


Best answer: Halo guy w/ big ears = Daruma (Bodhidharma)
Woman = Kanon Bosatsu

Other halo guy: no clue.
posted by Nevin at 4:43 PM on October 6, 2015


It looks like a copy (or vice versa) of this vase; that site's shady claim its vase is "one of kind" makes me think it's almost certainly not one of a kind. My inexpert guess is that your vase and the AncientPoint vase were mass-produced by the same company and/or copying the same design, whether in Japan or not.
posted by nicebookrack at 4:46 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ugh, didn't finish my thought about "whether in Japan or not": if the vase(s) were mass produced, it may not have been in Japan; if it wasn't made in Japan, the people depicted may not be Japanese. They may be Buddhist figures, who are popular throughout Japan and East Asia. It looks like the pale pretty person may have a bindi, which is more of a South Asian thing. The pale pretty person may or may not be female.
posted by nicebookrack at 4:59 PM on October 6, 2015


Best answer: That's a really common "Satsuma" (export porcelain) motif. See here for an explanation of something similar. The woman is probably Kannon-sama and the men are sages/immortals.
posted by misozaki at 5:10 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


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