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Lot 302*
A bronze zun-shaped vessel By Nakajima Yasumi I, dated Taisho 13 (1924)
5 November 2009, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£1,800 - £2,500
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Find your local specialistA bronze zun-shaped vessel
By Nakajima Yasumi I, dated Taisho 13 (1924)
Of Chinese inspiration, ornamented in relief with bands of archaic motifs between further bands enclosing tiny circles; the shoulder moulded with two handles in the form of stylised birds, the patina suffused with irregular areas of verdigris to simulate a late Shang dynasty bronze, the base chiselled with a long inscription in tensho script Kore Taisho ju-san nen ichi-gatsu nijuroku-nichi Togu-denka gokongi ... saku sono biju man-nen eiho-yo, sokai Yasumi (Made to commemorate the marriage of the prince [Hirohito, Emperor Showa] on the 26th of January, Taisho 13 [1924] by Yasumi), with tomobako, the inside of the lid bearing the same inscription and dated, signed and sealed by the artist. 23cm (9in) high. (2).
Of Chinese inspiration, ornamented in relief with bands of archaic motifs between further bands enclosing tiny circles; the shoulder moulded with two handles in the form of stylised birds, the patina suffused with irregular areas of verdigris to simulate a late Shang dynasty bronze, the base chiselled with a long inscription in tensho script Kore Taisho ju-san nen ichi-gatsu nijuroku-nichi Togu-denka gokongi ... saku sono biju man-nen eiho-yo, sokai Yasumi (Made to commemorate the marriage of the prince [Hirohito, Emperor Showa] on the 26th of January, Taisho 13 [1924] by Yasumi), with tomobako, the inside of the lid bearing the same inscription and dated, signed and sealed by the artist. 23cm (9in) high. (2).
Footnotes
中国風尊形銅花瓶 中島保美 大正13年（1924年）
Three generations of the Yasumi family were metal artists working in Osaka. All three worked in richly coloured purple-red bronze seido. The vessel presented here is a departure from the aforementioned type due to its special commission. Interestingly, it would also suggest that Showa emperor appreciated archaic Chinese bronzes - which would have been typical of the taste of wealthy Japanese households at the time.
See also footnote to lot no.307.