The copper body has an applied blackened silver rim and silver base plate with the jungin mark. The deep blue (almost purple) enamel ground is decorated with flowering and trailing paulownia (kiri in Japanese). The stylised flowers have been executed in silver yusen and totai-jippo translucent enamels in shades of orange, white and purple. The leaves, which are more naturalistic in appearance, are executed in exquisitely shaded silver yusen green enamels. The treatment of the flowers and leaves and their placement against a large expanse of shiny black create a simple yet effective composition. The counter-enamel is the same shade as the exterior, although less polished, and the base has a matt olive coloured enamel with the applied silver yusen mark of the Ando Company. Paulownia has a special significance in Japan, where its leaves and flowers were historically used as the family crest of the imperial family and later of the military shogunate. For another illustration of this vase see Fairley, Japanese Enamels of the Meiji Era no. 54. See Coben & Ferster, Plate 1 for another vase by Ando Jubei of similar shape and technique.