Japanese? Small Interesting Dish

[tipton444]

Hello again,

Another random item I've had that I'm not sure about.  I'm not sure what this is, what it was used for, or whether it is Japanese or Chinese?  This piece is very small, only a couple inches long.  I'm leaning towards Japanese because of the decoration, but then again a lot of Chinese examples have panels with separate decorations like many Kangxi examples, although the enamels don't look right.  Another question, would this have had a lid do you think?  It doesn't seem so, but maybe it did.  Is it some kind of ink holder?  How old?

Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions!

[tipton444]

More pics.  Do the enamels look like Macau to you at all?

[Stan]

Maybe it was used as a brush washer, I do not think it had a lid because of the decoration on the top edge, I am thinking this is Chinese because of the colors used, Republic period I think, I could be wrong about that lets see what Peter thinks about its origin.

[peterp]

Yes, probably Chinese. Could indeed be a small portable brush washer.

[tipton444]

Okay, great!  Thank you guys for your thoughts, very helpful.