Kurodana in roiro lacquer with flower and herb maki-e decoration

Japan, first half of the 20th century

Presentation kurodana in roiro black lacquer, with an asymmetrical structure, adorned with a decoration of flowers and herbs in gold maki-e, enhanced with mother-of-pearl, with engraved silver fittings. The panels, doors and reserves develop a refined plant landscape where irises, foliage, grasses and seasonal flowers stand out against the deep black background, animated by fine water lines traced in concentric waves. The whole fully falls within the decorative vocabulary of ceremonial shelves related to the cultivated world of tea and precious objects.

The quality of the work stems from the explicit collaboration of several specialists, all named on the tomobako. The inscription reads: 漆匠 表清 / 蒔絵師 華暁 / 金具師 幸廣 / 花草蒔絵 蝋色塗飾棚 / 共箱, i.e.: master lacquerer Hyōsei, maki-e master Kagyō, metal fittings master Yukihiro, "decorative shelf in roiro lacquer with flower and herb maki-e decoration", with original box. This division of labor shows that it is a high-level decorative work, conceived by distinct specialties.

The maki-e decoration was created by Yuasa Kagyō (湯浅華暁, 1875-1952), an artist well documented by Art Platform Japan, which provides his dates, his field of activity in decorative arts, and his personal name, Yuasa Morikazu. Art Platform Japan also documents several works by him preserved at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, including a poem box in maki-e and a suzuribako, while the MIHO Museum also preserves a suzuribako. These references show an artist fully engaged in the refined decorative lacquer of Kyoto and the early decades of the 20th century.

Yuasa Kagyō's place in this work is essential. The floral decoration is not based on simple applied ornamentation, but on a very sure understanding of the lacquered surface, plant rhythms and reserves. The large iris leaves, riverbank grasses, small flowers and mother-of-pearl accents are arranged with a highly controlled restraint, without overcrowding, in a spirit that unites stylized naturalism and decorative elegance.

The master lacquerer Hyōsei is named as responsible for the background and the construction of the furniture itself, as well as the execution of the lacquer. Similarly, the metal fittings are explicitly attributed to Yukihiro, which gives the piece of furniture a remarkable unity between structure, painted decoration and metalwork. This triple signature strongly enhances the interest of the piece, by concretely documenting the manufacturing chain of a quality kurodana.

With its deep roiro black background, the delicacy of its floral decoration, its mother-of-pearl enhancements, its engraved metal fittings and the joint presence of three named contributors, this kurodana belongs to a refined Japanese production of the first half of the 20th century.

Dimensions: height approx. 81.5 cm; width approx. 85 cm; depth approx. 38 cm.