A lacquered tea jar with wood cover By Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891)
375
A lacquered container and wood cover simulating a cha-ire (tea jar)
By Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891), Meiji Period
Of slender ovoid form, lacquered in shumon-nuri to imitate the body of Seto ware and its lustrous, flocculent brown and ochre glaze, which covers the jar stopping just above the foot, the base signed Zeshin.
7.3cm (2 7/8in). (2).
Sold for £33,600 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • 瀬戸の意茶入　銘「是真」　明治時代

    Provenance: F.A. Richards collection, purchased at Sotheby's London, 1964.
    Wrangham collection, no.342.

    The technique of imitating ceramic surfaces in lacquer is said to date back to at least 1665, when a lacquer bowl representing Raku ware was reproduced in Simon Paulli's Commentarius de absusu tabaci Americanorum veteri, et herbi thee Asiaticorum in Europa novo; see Joe Earle, (ed.), Shibata Zeshin: Technique, Style, and Dating, pp.24-35, London 1996.

    Compare with a similarly lacquered tea jar, illustrated in the Exhibition Catalogue The Art of Shibata Zeshin, Featuring the Edson Collection, held at Mitsui Memorial Museum, Tokyo, December 2009 - February 2010.

Category: Asian Art / Japanese Art

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Suzannah Yip Bonhams
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