Page 119 - Bonhams November 4 2021 Japanese art London

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A CLOISONNÉ-ENAMEL SQUAT JAR AND COVER Born in 1845 to a rural samurai family, Namikawa Yasuyuki started his
By Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), Meiji era (1868-1912), cloisonné business in Kyoto in 1873 and by the 1880s was successful
early 20th century enough to build, and then extend and upgrade, a large compound
Worked in musen and silver wire of varying gauge with contrasting that eventually included workshops housing 20 or more employees,
shades of green and mushroom-coloured enamels with a tranquil a showroom, a family residence and a garden with a fishpond. He
scene depicting possibly Kodaiji Temple nestled among trees with its used these facilities to create a carefully orchestrated private retail
wooden-roofed corridor bridge spanning a pond, all reserved on a experience that was described in admiring detail by American and
taupe ground, the domed-shaped en-suite cover surmounted by a European travel writers, selling many of his finest wares directly to
silver knop-finial in the form of a chrysanthemum bud, the neck and private clients, as well as carrying out imperial commissions and
foot encircled with a narrow band of shippo-tsunagi (linked cash); participating in international expositions. Between 1876 and 1904
signed on the base with a silver tablet Kyoto Namikawa. he won 11 overseas awards and in 1896, along with his unrelated
10.5cm (4¼in) high. (2). namesake the Tokyo enameler Namikawa Sosuke (the two family
names are written with different characters), was among the first
£15,000 - 20,000 individuals to be appointed to the ranks of Teishitsu Gigeiin (Artist-
JPY2,300,000 - 3,000,000 Craftsmen to the Imperial Household). Such was his reputation that
US$20,000 - 27,000 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, N.C.,
McFarland, 2010, pp.86–87.

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please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. JAPANESE ART | 117