Page 223 - Bonhams May 2017 London Fine Japanese Art

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361*
A SLENDER OVOID CLOISONNÉ-ENAMEL VASE
By Ota Tamejiro (active Meiji era), Meiji era (1868-1912),
late 19th/early 20th century
Worked in gold and silver wire of varying gauge with a pair of shigi
(snipe) wading among tall stems of bamboo above a band of
chrysanthemum blossoms interwoven among karakusa (‘Chinese
grasses’) reserved on an olive green ground, the foot and neck with a
repeated zig-zag band enclosing foliate motifs; stamped on the base
with the mark of Ota Tamejiro.
16cm (6¼in) high.
£5,000 - 6,000
JPY690,000 - 830,000
US$6,200 - 7,400
362
A SMALL BALUSTER CLOISONNÉ-ENAMEL VASE
By Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), Meiji era (1868-1912),
late 19th/early 20th century
Decorated with a rustic landscape, showing thatched houses nestled
among trees by a winding stream, in shades of green enamel, worked
in silver wire, the rim and foot of silver, signed on the base with an in miniaturization; one being the illustration of leaves of the trees. Here
impressed seal mark Kyoto Namikawa. 8.3cm (3¼in) high.
£4,000 - 6,000
JPY550,000 - 830,000
US$5,000 - 7,400
Born in 1845 to a rural samurai family, Namikawa Yasuyuki started his
cloisonné business in Kyoto in 1873 and by the 1880s was successful
enough to build, and then extend and upgrade, a large compound
For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.
that eventually included workshops housing 20 or more employees,
a showroom, a family residence and a garden with a fishpond. He
used these facilities to create a carefully orchestrated private retail
experience that was described in admiring detail by American and
European travel writers, selling many of his finest wares directly to
private clients, as well as carrying out imperial commissions and
participating in international expositions. Between 1876 and 1904
he won 11 overseas awards and in 1896, along with his unrelated
namesake the Tokyo enameler Namikawa Sosuke (the two family
names are written with different characters), was among the first
individuals to be appointed to the ranks of Teishitsu Gigeiin (Artist-
Craftsmen to the Imperial Household). Such was his reputation that
at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle his wares were snapped up
the moment they were unpacked and sold for up to ten times the
amount anticipated. For a detailed biography of Namikawa Yasuyuki
see Frederic T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamel:
History, Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present, Jefferson, NC,
McFarland, 2010, pp.86–87.
Landscape was never a common subject-matter for enamellers, as
depiction of landscape on such a small scale posed several problems
the leaves are enhanced by the use of end-sections of triangles of
silver wire, to give an effect akin to that of gold kirikane of lacquer.
For a preliminary drawing of a similar landscape design, please see
Yoshida Mitsukuni and Nakahara Kenji, Nakahara Tessen Kyo shippo
monyo-shu (Nakahara Tessen’s Design Sketches for Cloisonné-
enamel), Kyoto, Tankosha, 1981, pp.166-167.
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