JAPAN, Meiji period (1868-1912) Pair of large bronze baluster vases with chased and inlaid decoration in gold, silver and shakudo, showing pairs of phoenixes facing each other at the neck between geometric friezes (stylised leaves and Greek foliage above, rosettes below), the handles emerging from phoenix heads, the body decorated on one side with four doves pecking under a tree in blossom (on the two vases), and on the other side the famous episode of the hunt near Mount Fuji (the scene divided between the two vases), during which Nitta Shirô (Tadatsune) jumped on a huge boar and killed it (left vase), to save the lord Minamoto no Yoritomo, here on his horse (right vase). H. 60 cm LDM Mounted with electricity, missing inlays (shakudo).