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A FINE CLOISONNÉ-ENAMEL AND MUSEN (‘WIRELESS’) One of the greatest craft entrepreneurs of the later Meiji era,
ROUNDED RECTANGULAR TRAY Namikawa Sosuke was until recently best known in Japan for a set
By Namikawa Sosuke (1847-1910), Meiji era (1868-1912), of 32 decorative panels commissioned for Tokyo’s Akasaka Rikyu
late 19th century Palace, completed in 1909. These date from the last years of his very
Decorated with an egret partially obscured among tall bearded irises productive life, nearly three decades after he began to experiment with
growing in a pond, after a design by Watanabe Seitei, on a ground the technique known as musen shippo (‘wireless’ enamelling), his most
graduated in colour from yellow at the top to pale grey at the bottom, enduring contribution to an art form that developed at extraordinary
the egret worked with white musen (‘wireless’) enamel plumage, its speed in Japan between the mid nineteenth century and the early
beak, leg, and eye subtly highlighted in gold wire, the outlines of the years of the twentieth century. In Chinese cloisonné enamelling, the
blades of grass and the petals on the white iris also in gold wire, the wires separating the different areas of fused and polished enamels
reverse worked in gilt wire enamel with numerous densely patterned that made up a design also served to hold the enamels in place during
cherry blossoms in pale brown on a dark plum-coloured ground, the firing process, and the individual areas of colour were relatively
applied with a shakudo rim, inscribed on the bottom right Seitei with small. Sosuke, followed shortly after by his rivals, managed to improve
a seal; signed on the reverse in silver wire with the Sakigake (seal of the chemistry of the enamels so that they adhered more securely to
Namikawa Sosuke). 20cm x 14.5cm (7 7/8in x 5¾in). the metal bases of his wares, allowing him to introduce large areas
of colour into his designs, although it is thought that wires between
£18,000 - 25,000 different colours still had to be painstakingly applied and removed
JPY2,700,000 - 3,800,000 at each stage of manufacture. Thanks to these and other technical
US$25,000 - 34,000 breakthroughs, later Meiji-era enamellers were often able to emulate
the effects of brush painting on paper or silk. In recognition of his
achievements, in 1896 Sosuke was appointed to the order of Teishitsu
For a lobed tray by the artist depicting an egret perched on a willow Gigeiin (Artist-Craftsman to the Imperial Household).
branch, see Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley, The Nasser D. Khalili
Collection of Japanese Art, vol.3, Enamel, London, Kibo Foundation,
1994, cat. no.91. A pair of yellow-ground vases by the artist also
depicting egrets on willow branches is illustrated in ibid., cat. no.92.

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please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. JAPANESE ART | 115