Rare author's Fujii Shumei vase. Made of porcelain, covered with hand painting. A pattern is applied on the body in relief and cobalt of different color saturation: long, intersecting and parallel lines create a calm, and at the same time whimsical pattern; in places, short vertical bars or notches impart a complex rhythm to the smooth horizontal movement. The dark lines in the relief are placed on the washouts of the light cobalt background. Japan, 1970s.

On the bottom, inside the ring leg, the artist's signature is engraved: 朱明 (“Shumei”) in a highly abbreviated cursive style. This signature in a characteristic style belongs to Shumei Fujii (b. 1936), a famous porcelain artist working in Arita, Saga Prefecture. Xiumei was born into a family of hereditary porcelain painting masters, studied with his father and from the age of 15 worked professionally in a porcelain decorating workshop. In 1974, he installed his own kiln in Arita and began working as an independent artist, exhibiting in prestigious competitions in Japan and abroad, as well as regularly showing work at Japan's most important annual exhibition, Nitten.