The term kinrande, meaning ‘gold brocade style’, was historically used to describe a type of porcelain with finely detailed gilt patterning made in China for the Japanese market during the sixteenth century. The style of decoration was revived in Japan in the nineteenth century as part of growing popular interest in Chinese culture. Tokuzen was the 13th generation head of the Eiraku family, whose origins can be traced back to the sixteenth century. The vases were part of a group of over 200 ceramics bought on behalf of the V&A by the Japanese Exposition commissioners with funds provided by Philip Cunliffe-Owen, an ardent Japanophile who was director of the V&A from 1874 to 1893. The instructions sent to the commissioners were that they should ‘make an historical collection of porcelain and pottery from the earliest period until the present time, to be formed in such a way as to give fully the history of the art.’