Sake bottle with pine, broadleaf bamboo, and plum

This narrow-mouthed bottle is decorated with auspicious motifs of pine, bamboo, and plum in overglaze enamels in a style pioneered by potter Nonomura Ninsei (active mid-1600s). Its jewel-like tones of blue and green, with the addition of gold, were frequently used together in Ko-Kiyomizu ware of the late 1600s through early 1800s. Also typical of sake bottles of this type and age is the embellishment of the neck and shoulder with a separate motif—here, a small wrapping cloth with a design of roundels tied with a braided cord.