The copper bodies of both vases have applied silver rims and base plates carrying the stamped jungin mark; the counter-enamel is of a dark olive-brown colour. The left-hand vase depicts an angry-looking, tufted male bird perched on a tree. The enamels used to depict the bird are a combination of silver yusen and shosen, with the bird's plumage softly defined in subtle shades of polychrome enamels. The tree is probably of the Moraceae family (which includes both mulberry, Morus Alba, and the fig, Ficus L.), the fruits of which have gone to seed; the same tree is also to be found on the companion vase. The leaves of both trees are executed in silver yusen and shosen, and the shaded green enamels are exquisitely applied in a very painterly fashion. The right-hand vase has a pair of similar birds (male and female) as the left-hand vase and they are executed in the same enamels. The subtle use of enamel on the right-hand vase is particularly noticeable on the foreground trunk, while the rear trunk has been executed in paler shades of greys to create the illusion of space and distance. The grounds of the vases are of pale grey-blue enamels. The interiors of the bases bear the fine silver yusen mark of the Ando Company and the associated wooden stands for the pair of vases (not shown in the photograph) have original Ando Company labels.

The exotic birds on these vases have not been positively identified and are likely to be a 'hypothetical species' perhaps based on the Japanese waxwing (Bombycilla japonica) or the Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Tersiphone paradise). For a similar bird on a painted and cut-velvet hanging scroll see Earle 1986, plate 184; and on another cloisonné vase see Meiji no Takara no.52.