Antique Japanese Satsuma Vase, lid with beauty playing biwa, 21 inches = 53 cm, 19th century. Antique Japanese Satsuma Covered Vase. Beautiful gilding throughout, Japanese immortals. Height: 21 inches =53.3 cm; Width: 8 1/2 inches = 21.6 cm; Provenance: private collection in Sarasota, FL, USA. REFERENCE: Satsuma ware (薩摩焼, Satsuma-yaki) is a type of Japanese pottery originally from Satsuma Province, southern Kyūshū. Today, it can be divided into two distinct categories: the original plain dark clay early Satsuma (古薩摩, Ko-Satsuma) made in Satsuma from around 1600, and the elaborately decorated export Satsuma (京薩摩, Kyō-Satsuma) ivory-bodied pieces which began to be produced in the nineteenth century in various Japanese cities. By adapting their gilded polychromatic enamel overglaze designs to appeal to the tastes of western consumers, manufacturers of the latter made Satsuma ware one of the most recognized and profitable export products of Japan for centuries, and even became one of the key sources of funding for the Meiji period reforms. Most scholars date satsuma ware's appearance to the late sixteenth[1] or early seventeenth century.[2] In 1597–1598, at the conclusion of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's incursions into Korea, Korean potters, which at the time were highly regarded for their contributions to ceramics and the Korean ceramics industry, were captured and forcefully brought to Japan to kick-start Kyūshū's non-existent ceramic industry.[3] Hagi ware and Arita ware (Yi Sam-pyeong) share similar peninsular origins.