Born in Takaoka—since the Edo period (1615–1868) an important bronze-casting center—in 1938 Yoshino Takeji graduated from the Metalworking Department of the Toyama Prefectural School of Crafts and apprenticed with his father Takejirō. Instead of switching to modern manufacturing methods, he has continued to use traditional techniques, including the unique murashidō patination seen on this piece, achieved by dipping hot bronze in oil and smoking it with rice straw, creating a crystalline marble-like effect. In 1974 Yoshino was commissioned by the Government of Japan to make flower vases for the Geihinkan State Guest House. In 1990 he was named Preserver of a Takaoka City Traditional Craft Technique.