Page 126 - Japanese Art Nov 9 2017 London

Property from an English Private Collection
(Lots 212-228)

212 Museum of Kyoto, published and illustrated in Ogawa Mikio et al.,
AN IMPORTANT AND EARLY CLOISONNÉ-ENAMEL Shippo: Iro to saimitsu no sekai (Shippo, Japanese Cloisonné: A World
OVOID VASE of Color and Exquisite Detail), Tokyo, Lixil Gallery, 2009, p.6, exhibited
By Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), Meiji era (1868-1912), at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, published and illustrated in
late 19th century, circa 1890s Hida Toyojiro et. al., Namikawa Yasuyuki Meiji shippo no yuwaku - Tomei
Delicately worked in silver wire of varying gauge with a continuous na kuro no kansei (Namikawa Yasuyuki and Japanese Cloisonné - The
design of purple and white fronds of wisteria trailing vertically and Allure of Meiji Cloisonné: The Aesthetic of Translucent Black), Tokyo,
asymmetrically around the shoulder from beneath scrolling branches Mainichi Shinbunsha, 2017, no.38; a third but probably later vase
and overlapping green leaves above assorted clumps of wild flowers decorated with wisteria in the collection of the National Museum of
including kiku (chrysanthemum), nadeshiko (pink), tanpopo (dandelion) Modern Art, Kyoto, exhibited, published and illustrated in ibid., no.39.
and suisen (narcissus) around the base, the waisted neck decorated
with a wide band of repeated stylised foliate motifs interwoven among Born in 1845 to a rural samurai family, Namikawa Yasuyuki started his
karakusa (‘Chinese grasses’), the upper rim and foot with a narrow cloisonné business in Kyoto in 1873 and by the 1880s was successful
band of hanabishi shippo-zunagi (flowery-diamond linked-jewels), the enough to build, and then extend and upgrade, a large compound
mouth with a band of lappets enclosing a repeated pattern of white that eventually included workshops housing 20 or more employees,
and red half-chrysanthemum heads, all reserved on a midnight-blue a showroom, a family residence and a garden with a fishpond. He
ground, applied with a gilt-brass metal foot and rim; signed directly used these facilities to create a carefully orchestrated private retail
on the base plate with engraved signature Kyoto Namikawa. experience that was described in admiring detail by American and
22.2cm (8¼in) high. European travel writers, selling many of his finest wares directly to
private clients, as well as carrying out imperial commissions and
£20,000 - 30,000 participating in international expositions. Between 1876 and 1904
JPY3,000,000 - 4,400,000 he won 11 overseas awards and in 1896, along with his unrelated
US$26,000 - 40,000 namesake the Tokyo enameler Namikawa Sosuke (the two family
names are written with different characters), was among the first
Provenance individuals to be appointed to the ranks of Teishitsu Gigeiin (Artist-
An English private collection. Craftsmen to the Imperial Household). Such was his reputation that at
the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle his wares were snapped up the
For a very similarly decorated vase of the same size by Namikawa with moment they were unpacked and sold for up to ten times the amount
an identical signature directly engraved on the base, see Oliver Impey anticipated. For a detailed biography of Namikawa Yasuyuki see
and Malcolm Fairley, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, Frederic T. Schneider, The Art of Japanese Cloisonné Enamel: History,
Vol.III, Enamel, London, Kibo Foundation, 1995, cat no.11; compare Techniques and Artists, 1600 to the Present, Jefferson NC, McFarland,
also another similar vase in the collection of the Namikawa Cloisonné 2010, pp.86–87.

124 | 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.