Japanese Lidded Yunomi with Maple Leaves on Flowing Water (Tatsutagawa)

A small lidded yunomi (Japanese teacup) in a warm cream glaze, with a snug-fitting domed lid. Both cup and lid are painted with swirling indigo water currents, scattered dots and drifting maple leaves in fresh green and autumn brown, plus tiny outlined cherry-blossom petals in red. It's a lovely size for green tea, and the lid keeps the tea hot and holds in its fragrance while it steeps. It also makes a charming little lidded pot for sugar, rings or trinkets. The glaze is in good condition, and the lid fits well.

Maple leaves floating on flowing water is a classic Japanese design known as Tatsutagawa, after the Tatsuta River in Nara, famous for its autumn colours. It goes back to a celebrated poem by Ariwara no Narihira (825–880), included in the Hyakunin Isshu poetry anthology. In it, he marvels that even in the age of the gods no one had heard of the river being tie-dyed crimson by fallen leaves.