This is an antique Japanese military sake cup, decorated with the tower on top of the 203 Meter Hill that was erected after the Russo Japanese war. The words on the tower are "Nireisan", the name General Nogi gave to the hill that sounds exactly the same as "203 Meter Hill". The other words are "Port Arthur Garrison Commemoration". The soldier's name Ishihara is on the back.

The gold lines on the cup are kintsugi repairs - using a kind of gold lacquer to fix up porcelain. It's now actually a pretty rare technique and getting someone to do it costs quite a bit of money, making repaired items often costing more than unrepaired ones because of the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi where imperfection is prized.

Condition: Excellent - some fading of the gold, aside from the repairs

Size: 3" across