Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

A bronze zun-shaped vessel By Nakajima Yasumi I, dated Taisho 13 (1924) image 1
A bronze zun-shaped vessel By Nakajima Yasumi I, dated Taisho 13 (1924) image 2
Lot 512*

A bronze zun-shaped vessel
By Nakajima Yasumi I, dated Taisho 13 (1924)

11 May 2010, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£1,000 - £1,500

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Japanese Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

A 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 cast 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 初代中島保美 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, if this was made as a gift for the Emperor as the inscription would suggest, it would also suggest that the 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.515.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,

A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,

THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century

OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900

A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,

An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)

A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700

A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,

A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,

A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,

A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century

A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,

TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,

A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century

A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,

ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,

EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,

A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,

A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,

SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,

TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,

FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century