{"product_id":"mizusachi-aux-herons-edo-kenzan","title":"Mizusashi with the Egret — Kenzan School, attributed to Miura Kenya (Kenzan VI), Japan, late Edo period \/ Meiji era, 19th century","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cspan\u003eA rare tea ceremony water jar of exceptional artistic quality, bearing the signature 乾山 (Kenzan) within a rectangular cartouche. The work is attributed to Miura Kenya (三浦乾也, 1821–1889), the sixth bearer of the Kenzan name, a major figure in Meiji-era Japanese ceramics.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"17-17\"\u003eThis mizusashi (水指) is a covered water jar used in the chanoyu tea ceremony. It was used to store fresh water for filling the kettle or rinsing the bowls. The body is almost cubic with slightly rounded corners, achieved by turning on a lathe and then shaping by hand to create the characteristic angles—a more demanding technique than slab construction, as it preserves the organic continuity of the wall while giving it an architectural rigor. The flat lid, with a matching glaze, is topped with a hand-modeled looped knob.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"19-19\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"21-21\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eDimensions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"23-23\"\u003e Height: 20 cm — Width: 15 cm — Depth: 14 cm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"25-25\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"27-27\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eTechnique and materials\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"29-29\"\u003eBody in turned and deformed stoneware, covered with a white slip (kohiki) forming the painted surface. Polychrome decoration applied with a brush, under and over the glaze, using cobalt oxides (gosu blue), copper oxide (green), and iron oxide (red and black). Transparent feldspathic glaze over the white slip, exhibiting a dense network of crackles (kannyū 貫入). Unglazed foot (kodai) in granular stoneware, with traces of spiral throwing visible at the base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"31-31\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"33-33\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eDecoration\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"35-35\"\u003eThe decorative composition is the most remarkable element of this piece. Two large white egrets (shirasagi) move within a landscape of bamboo stalks drawn with cobalt oxide, branches of black iron, teal foliage, and small red and yellow flowers—chrysanthemums or autumn wildflowers. The design is entirely free, spontaneous, and of first-rate calligraphic quality: each brushstroke is deliberate, without hesitation, in the great pictorial tradition of the Rimpa school.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"37-37\"\u003eThe composition is designed to be viewed diagonally, from the corner of the piece: the first plume, at rest, occupies the left side of the body; the second, in motion, crosses the junction between the body and the lid, deliberately transgressing this structural boundary. This device—rare in ceramic production—reveals an artist who conceives of the object as a complete 360-degree sculpture, and not as a vessel to which decoration is applied.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"39-39\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"41-41\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eSignature\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"43-43\"\u003e The signature 乾山 (Kenzan) is painted in iron oxide within a framed rectangular cartouche on the lower side of the body. The script is in a semi-cursive style (gyōsho 行書), simple and confident. This type of rectangular lateral seal is characteristic of the production of Miura Kenya and his direct circle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"45-45\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"47-47\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eAttribution and dating\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"49-49\"\u003eThe piece belongs to the Kenzan school, Edo-Tokyo lineage. The entire set of stylistic and technical criteria—the mastery of the twisted and distorted angular form, the expressive spontaneity of the brushwork, the repertoire of egrets and water herons among the documented favorite motifs, the characteristic polychromy, the authentically aged craquelure, and the diagonal compositional design—converge towards an attribution to Miura Kenya (Kenzan VI, 1821–1889) or an artist from his immediate circle, active in the 1850s–1880s. The piece is dated to the late Edo period or the early Meiji era, 19th century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"51-51\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"53-53\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eStorage box\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"55-55\"\u003eThe piece is accompanied by a high-quality wooden box, made after the work's creation (後箱 atobako) by a Japanese connoisseur who recognized its value. The box has a separate compartment for the lid, a rare feature that testifies to the care taken in its preservation. The inscription reads: \"Mizusashi with the crest—possibly from Kenzan.\" This cautious attribution is typical of the intellectual honesty of cultivated Japanese connoisseurs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"57-57\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"59-59\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eState\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"61-61\"\u003e Good overall condition, consistent with the age and use of a tea ceremony piece. Natural cracking. No repairs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr data-source-line=\"63-63\"\u003e\n\n\u003cp data-source-line=\"65-65\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eHistorical context\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n \u003cp data-source-line=\"67-67\"\u003eOgata Kenzan (1663–1743) was one of Japan's greatest ceramicists, founder of a revolutionary style combining pottery and painting in the Rimpa tradition, an artistic movement initiated with his elder brother, the painter Ogata Kōrin. After his death, the Kenzan name became a dynastic mark passed down through several generations of potters. Miura Kenya (三浦乾也), the sixth holder of the title, was a singular figure of the late Edo period: potter, carpenter, shipbuilder, and samurai, he embodied to the very end the Japanese ideal of the accomplished man in multiple disciplines. His rare and sought-after ceramic works combine the gestural freedom inherited from Kenzan I with a naturalistic sensibility influenced by the painter Tani Bunchō.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sinapango ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53819989098842,"sku":null,"price":2600.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0957\/8568\/1242\/files\/Kenzan_Mizusachi.jpg?v=1773660592","url":"https:\/\/sinapango.com\/en\/products\/mizusachi-aux-herons-edo-kenzan","provider":"Sinapango ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}