The vase has a copper body with an applied copper rim and base plate, both of which may have once been patinated to a shakudo finish. The flowering plant, most likely Katsura Japonica (known in Japanese as binan-kazura or saneka) has been rendered in an almost impressionistic way in musen enamels with subtly shaded polychrome enamels on the flowers, leaves and stems. However, there is naturalistic quality in the almost three-dimensional representation of some of the leaves, particularly the undersides, and the shading on the stems, a quality enhanced by the fact that some leaves show signs of decay and insect damage. The ground enamel is a pale blue-grey. See Meiji no Takara no.54 and Earle, Splendors of Imperial Japan no.310 for an imperial presentation vase by Ando with a more naturalistic impression of this same plant.