Live Auction 9555Asobi: Ingenious Creativity Japanese Works of Art from Antiquity to Contemporary And Ceramics from the Collection of Bernard Leach
UNRYUAN KITAMURA TATSUO (1952 - )
Lot 91

UNRYUAN KITAMURA TATSUO (1952 - )

Closed15 October 2013

Price Realised

GBP 11,250

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UNRYUAN KITAMURA TATSUO (1952 - )
A lacquer suzuribako lavishly decorated in iroe-togidashi-e on a kinji ground depicting a scene of the Hokoku Festival held in 1604 with a man wearing a bamboo shoot costume and a group of dancing men and women, the interior with a continuous scene, fitted with a kidney-shaped inkstone with fundame rim, a removable tray and a gilt suiteki [water dropper] cast and carved as a spiral shell, signed Unryuan to the interior base, silver rims, with three original preparatory sketches, sepia ink on paper, each sealed Unryuan, three fitted boxes
16.5cm. long

Specialist note

'Unryuan' Kitamura Tatsuo was born in Wajima city, Ishikawa, an area renowned for its particular lacquer technique called Wajima-nuri. After having acquired the techniques used in traditional lacquer ware as an apprentice of a local artist, he established a small lacquer workshop 'Unryuan' and produces high-quality works based on a great understanding of classical lacquer ware. His works have entered international private collections and museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum see https://collections.vam.ac.uk museum numbers FE.551:1 to 3-1992 and FE.63:1, 2-2002.

The Hokoku Festival was held at the Toyokuni shrine, Kyoto, in the lunar calendar of August, 1604, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). The suzuribako depicts a vibrant atmosphere of the festival copied from a pair of screens, Hokoku Sairei zu Byobu attributed to Iwasa Matabe (1578-1650), currently in the collection of Tokugawa Museum.