Satsuma Porcelain Cane

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Masterpiece Cane Auction 2026

By Kimball Sterling

Jan 3, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-01-03 11:00:00 2026-01-03 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Masterpiece Cane Auction 2026 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/kimball-sterling/masterpiece-cane-auction-2026-21759
Masterpiece Cane auction is all from a Europeon collection. We offer items from this private collection about once a year, Kimball Sterling kimballsterling@earthlink.net

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• Lot Description

  Ca. 1890

  Substantial Satsuma porcelain knob fashioned in the classical shape of a ginger pot and micro-decorated in the prevalent taste of its day with complex genre scenes and complex patterns of beautiful ladies and noblemen in traditional dress and loads of gold highlights.

  It comes with a turned-bone lid and matching collars on a stem of rare dark burr wood, and an even rarer and most precious Bahia rosewood shaft with a stag-horn ferrule.

  Better than the best and among the few examples in the extensive walking stick porcelain selection, this Meiji cane is associated with the height of Satsuma ware's popularity. It ticks all the right boxes for rarity, quality, and decorative appeal.

  All the used components at the rich end of the spectrum speak for a bench-made, special commission at the boundaries between design and art.

  It was, for three decades, the center of a cane collection from San Francisco, before it returned to the market after the death of the Sino-lover collector and the dispersal of his assets at auction.

  2 ¼” x 1 ¾”, O.L. 41 ¼”

  $800-$1,200

  Satsuma ware is a type of earthenware pottery originating from the Satsuma province in southern Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest island.

  Korean potters, who the Japanese kidnapped for their extraordinary skills, built the first kilns in the 16th century. Before this, there was no real ceramic industry in the Satsuma region.

  There are two distinct types of Satsuma Ware. The original Ko-Satsuma is characterized by a heavy, dark glaze, often plain but occasionally inscribed or relief-patterned. This style is rarely seen outside museums, and it proliferated up until about 1800.

  Around 1800, a new style, Kyo-satsuma, became popular. Famed for its delicate ivory-colored ground with a finely crackled transparent glaze, it was markedly different from Ko-Satsuma. These early designs focused on over-glaze decoration of simple, light, floral patterns with painted gilding. Colors often used were iron red, purple, blue, turquoise, black, and yellow.

  The first presentation of Japanese arts to the West was in 1867, and Satsuma ware was one of the star attractions. This helped establish the aesthetic we are most familiar with today. This export style reflects the international tastes of the time. Popular designs featured mille-fleur (a thousand flowers) and complex patterns. Many pieces featured panels depicting typical Japanese scenes to appeal to the West, such as pagodas, cherry blossoms, birds and flowers, and beautiful ladies and noblemen in traditional dress.

  The height of Satsuma ware's popularity was the early Meiji period, from around 1885, when it became synonymous with Japanese ceramics.

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