The copper body has an applied rolled silver rim and base plate with the jungin mark. The pale grey-green ground, reminiscent of the work of Namikawa Sosuke, has a silver yusen design of flowering chrysanthemums. Shades of green, blue and brown have been used on the leaves to suggest the changing of the season. The counter-enamel is green, except for the visible area within the neck, which is dark brown. The latter has also been applied to the base, which has the silver yusen mark of the Ando Company. Although the composition appears rather formulaic and lacks the spontaneity of the best of Ando's designs, the workmanship and considered use of space are nonetheless of a high quality. A paper label on the accompanying box has a long honorific inscription stating that the vase was given to 'Lord Kido by the current Emperor'. This probably refers to Koichi Kido (1889-1977), Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal to Emperor Hirohito (r.1926-1989). Kido was a member of the Japanese cabinet from 1937 but held this important post, which controlled access to the emperor, from 1940 to 1945.