Contemporary Jūbako for New Year, collaboration by Yuji Terashima, Kawamoto Tarō and Nagae Shigekazu

Japan, Seto, 2000. Muro Gallery.

Stackable food box of the jūbako type, made in collaboration by three Japanese ceramists active in Seto: Yuji Terashima, Kawamoto Tarō and Nagae Shigekazu. The set consists of three independent ceramic compartments and a painted wooden lid. The elements can be stacked in various orders, giving the object a modular, almost architectural dimension.

This piece reinterprets the traditional form of the New Year's box, intended for osechi ryōri dishes, but transforms it into a contemporary work. Each level has its own material, color, and presence. The object retains the memory of ceremonial use, while becoming a three-voice composition centered on Seto ceramics at the end of the 20th century.

Yuji Terashima's compartment features a sober, textured cream exterior and a silver interior, animated by a dark disk evoking the moon. This part relies on a very strong contrast between the external reserve and the internal depth. The silver, the black moon, and the polygonal shape give this section a calm, almost nocturnal dimension. Yuji Terashima is a ceramist from Seto, documented by solo exhibitions and his role as a master to younger artists. His work combines sober forms, attention to surfaces, and controlled contrasts between white, black, metal, and interior space.

Kawamoto Tarō's compartment is crafted from a rough, dense brown material with a black interior. The very physical exterior surface evokes earth worked like skin. It gives the whole its visual weight and material anchoring. Kawamoto Tarō belongs to the lineage of Kawamoto Gorō, a major figure in post-war Seto ceramics. His work is part of a heritage where the ceramic object transcends utility to become constructed form, expressive material, and sometimes trompe-l'œil. In this box, his part acts as a dark, organic base.

Nagae Shigekazu's compartment is made of white ceramic, with a crackled and slightly modeled surface, a golden rim, and a light interior punctuated by small dark dots. It introduces a sharp, almost architectural light. Nagae Shigekazu, born in Seto in 1953, is internationally recognized for his work in molded, fine, white porcelain, often deformed by firing. He transformed a technique derived from mass production into a contemporary sculptural language. His works are present in major international collections, including LACMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sèvres, the Musée Ariana, and the National Gallery of Australia.

The painted wooden lid visually unites the three voices of the ensemble. Its white surface is traversed by lines, scratches, signs, and colored passages, akin to gestural writing. These marks evoke drawing, graffiti, signature, and movement. They give the object a freer, more immediately contemporary dimension. The lid functions as a common page laid over three distinct materials.

The tomobako bears the inscription Muro 2000, as well as the artists' signatures on the reverse of the lid. The presence of the Muro gallery card in Seto and attached biographical notes indicates a provenance most likely linked to this gallery, perhaps as part of a group exhibition or a specific New Year's project.

This work is interesting because it does more than just update a traditional form. It brings into dialogue three ceramic languages: Terashima's silvery, silent moon, Kawamoto's brown, rough material, and Nagae's structured, gilded whiteness. The jūbako becomes a layered work, simultaneously a ceremonial box, a stackable sculpture, and a discreet manifesto of contemporary Seto ceramics.

Original signed tomobako, Muro 2000 inscription, signatures of the three artists on the reverse of the lid. Muro gallery card and biographical notes attached.

Dimensions: total height approx. 20 cm; width approx. 27 cm; depth approx. 19 cm. Each compartment measures approx. 27 × 19 cm, with slight variations due to the polygonal shape.