6.5x3.5x5 Inch Small Round Oribe Green Bushuan Japanese Bonsai Pot #623 – Hand Formed, Foo-Dog, Extended Rim, Pronged Feet, Chop and Nail Signed

A shishi is carved into the side of this one. The shishi is the guardian lion of Japanese and Chinese temple gates, the figure collectors here usually call a foo dog, and Bushuan worked them directly into the clay on some of his pots rather than applying them as a separate piece. A carved Bushuan is a different and often more prized find than a plain one.

Over it sits an oribe green drip glaze, layered coat on coat and fired so it runs and breaks down the wall. The rim extends out past the body and the pot stands on pronged feet. It carries a chop and a nail signature, the signature scratched into the clay by hand while it was still leather-hard rather than pressed.

At 5 inches across and 3.5 inches deep this is shohin scale with good root volume for its footprint. That suits a semi-cascade, a literati trunk, or a small tree still building its root system. With a carving on one side, it is worth deciding early which face is the front.