Satsuma Kiriko Bowl with Cross Design

This bowl was made by fusing copper-ruby glass to the outside of clear glass and then cutting the pattern after the glass had cooled. Led by its lord Shimazu Nariakira, Satsuma domain became the first place in Japan to produce copper-ruby glass. Works of indigo-blue, purple, green, yellow, and later red kiriko of the highest quality giyaman glass began to circulate as gifts among the wealthy daimyo of the Edo period. Among the characteristics of Satsuma kiriko copper-ruby glass are the unevenness of the red coloring, a result of the way the copper colloid produced the color, and the differences in shading depending on the thickness of the cased glass. Even in a beautifully colored red piece, one will be able to see unevenness in the color upon examining the inside of the piece.
The bowl is decorated with the crest of the Shimazu family consisting of a cross inside a circle. Considering the extreme difficulty of cutting a perfectly round circle for the crests, we can only be impressed by the workmanship of these hand-carved pieces. This is the only example known that carries the Shimazu family crest in a work of Satsuma kiriko.