Page 227 - japanese and korean art Utterberg Collection Christie's March 22 2022

A PRIVATE JAPANESE COLLECTION SINCE MID-20TH CENTURY
82
A SILVER EWER AND COVER WITH PHOENIX
SPOUT
MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED ZOROKU HOKO
AND SEALED (HATA ZOROKU; 1823-1890)
The compressed globular form ewer, finely cast and chiselled
with Chinese taotie style masks, dragons and animals in high
relief set on leiwen (thunder pattern) grounds simulating
ancient Chinese bronze vessels, the sprout in the shape of a
phoenix head, jade finial on cover; signature on the bottom
tier of body
7¿ in. (18.1 cm.) high
With original box inscripted Gin yuwakashi and sealed on
cover, titled Ho hoshu totetsu mon kashiki, signed Zoroku zo and
sealed
$15,000-20,000

Hata Zoroku was a Meiji master in cast metal in the lost-
wax technique. He learned metalwork techniques in the
studio of Ryubundo in Kyoto. He was especially renowned
for his works inspired by archaic Chinese bronzes. A boom
in Japanese collectors with antiquarian interests spurred
craftsmen such as Hata Zoroku to focus on the study and
replication of Chinese antiquities during the Meiji period.

Hata produced works for the Imperial Household and it is
known that he made the gold Imperial seal and national seal
by order of the Imperial Household in 1873. He was under
consideration as Artist to the Imperial Household (Teishitsu
Gigeiin). He died several days before the announcement of
these designations in 1890.
For bronze works by Zoroku in the collection of the
Imperial Household, see The Era of Meiji Bijutsu-kai and
Nihon Kinko Kyokai, in Meiji bijutsu saiken I (Reappraisal
of Meiji Art I) (Tokyo: Museum of the Imperial Collections,
Sannomaru Shozokan, 1995), pp. 40-41.