Page 122 - Japanese Art Nov 9 2017 London

209
A FINE PAIR OF SLENDER CLOISONNÉ-ENAMEL
BALUSTER VASES
By Namikawa Sosuke (1847-1910),
Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th century
Each delicately worked in musen (wireless) and shosen (partially
wireless) technique and forming a complementary design, one large
koi (carp) on one vase and two on the other, one partially obscured by
the cloudy water and a shoal of medaka (rice fish) swimming amidst
flowering white hishi (Japanese water caltrop) on a pale white-grey
ground, graduating to white-green towards the bottom, the scales of
two carp and the veins of the green leaves outlined in silver wire, the
fins of the rice fish subtly highlighted in gold wire, each vase applied
with a shakudo rim and foot, each signed on the base in thick silver
wire with a single character Sakigake (the seal of Namikawa Sosuke).
Each vase 36cm (14 1/8in) high. (2).

£20,000 - 30,000
JPY3,000,000 - 4,400,000
US$26,000 - 40,000

Provenance
A French private collection.

One of the greatest craft entrepreneurs of the later Meiji era,
Namikawa Sosuke was until recently best known in Japan for a set
of 32 decorative panels commissioned for Tokyo’s Akasaka Rikyu
Palace, completed in 1909. These date from the last years of his very
productive life, nearly three decades after he began to experiment with
the technique known as musen shippo (wireless enameling), his most
enduring contribution to an art form that developed at extraordinary
speed in Japan between the mid-nineteenth century and the early
years of the twentieth century. In Chinese cloisonné enameling, the
wires separating the different areas of fused and polished enamels that
made up a design also served to hold the enamels in place during the
firing process, and the individual areas of color were relatively small.
Sosuke, followed shortly after by his rivals, managed to improve the
chemistry of the enamels so that they adhered more securely to the
metal bases of his wares, allowing him to introduce large areas of color
into his designs, although it is thought that wires between different
colors still had to be painstakingly applied and removed at each stage
of manufacture. Thanks to these and other technical breakthroughs,
later Meiji-era enamelers 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 Gigeiin (Artist-
Craftsman to the Imperial Household).

120 | BONHAMS 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.