Nifty find out of a home. This is a Japanese Satsuma pottery vase or ceramic piece. From the style and visible aging present, we believe this one to be an antique Satsuma vase although we don't know the exact age. It is minimally a vintage piece, and definitely not one of the newer "Satsuma-like" pieces. There is no country of origin or manufacturer marking on this piece as was often the case, but these were made in Japan.

A small bud vase with a thin neck that opens into a broader, bulbous base that narrows to the smaller round base rim on which this piece sits. Measures about 4 1/4 inches height with a greatest width of about 2 1/2 inches. The round underside base measures about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. This antique Japanese vase weighs 3.2 ounces unpacked.

Base pottery color is beige or light tan with a hand applied or hand painted decor on all outer sides. Some of the paint is applied thickly in a raised manner, particularly with the gold applications and many colored paint dot decorations. The applied colors include gold, the traditional red-orange, light blue, light green, black and yellow. Two pairs of male figures appear on two opposite sides, painted differently, and appearing to wear kimonos. In between these there are two similar decor panels including some flowers and many dots, with geometric swirls on the vase neck and other decor.

Please examine the images closely using the zoom feature. The camera light creates white "hot spot" reflections on the smooth, painted surfaces, particularly on the gold paint. This makes it difficult to see some aspects of this antique vase, so we've included images shot at an angle to try and control the reflections, as well as one image shot without the camera light. That one, of course, appears much darker, but it can help you better see some detail and know that the white "hot spots" don't represent paint loss.

This lovely antique Satsuma vase is in great shape for its age, but does have an all-over fine crazing which can be seen in most of the background beige pottery areas and some of the painted areas. There are no chips or other cracks/large cracks. In spots there is some light paint wear but not bad (you can see some of this on and near the top rim) and with the intricate design, this doesn't jump out at you. You can only see a bit into the interior, which has crazing and what looks to be a brown painted line, as well as some ribbed/textured surface area. The underside base rim on which this sits has expected darkening as a sign of age. It's possible this has other light use/age/cleaning wear, but there's really nothing major to worry about here.

A terrific old piece to add to any collection of this intricate Satsuma pottery.