The form of this Meissen sake-flask mirrors that of its forerunners from the Sakaida Kakiemon factory in Arita. For a Japanese example of circa 1690 in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (inv. no. PO 4766), together with its Meissen counterpart from the same museum (inv. no. PE 5015), both with Japanese Palace inventory numbers, see Ulrich Pietsch et al., Triumph of the Blue Swords, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Exhibition Catalogue, 2010, p. 253, cat. no. 191, where the author notes that 'Japanese pieces were taken from the Japanese Palace to Meissen so that they could be copied for the French merchant Rodolphe Lemaire, who was planning to sell Meissen copies in France as Japanese originals. In the case of most of these imitations, the obligatory crossed swords mark was therefore painted over the glaze so that it would be easy to remove'. Count Hoym, the factory director at the time when the scam was discovered, was subsequently arrested and the merchant expelled from the country. Sake flasks are further discussed by Julia Weber, Meissener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern, Stiftung Ernst Schneider in Schloss Lustheim, Munich, 2013, Vol. II, pp. 129-136, where the author illustrates an example of a pair of the same form and with the same decoration as the present lot on p. 135, cat. no. 112.