A FINE AND VERY LARGE (61 CM) CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘EGRETS’ VASE, MEIJI PERIOD

拍品描述

A FINE AND VERY LARGE (61 CM) CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL ‘EGRETS’ VASE, MEIJI PERIOD This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005: “No. 394, TL 1984, Japanese Cloisonné large vase w. ‘Cranes in winter’” Gallery price: EUR 3,200 or approx. EUR 5,300 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing. Expert’s note: The present motif of numerous snowy white egrets was used by important cloisonné workshops including those of Hayashi Kodenji (see literature comparison below). Set against a pale blue ground, the gathered birds create an almost abstract composition of overlapping white forms, their curved backs and tucked necks resembling clouds or banks of mist. This effect was made possible only through the technical advances of the late nineteenth century, when Japanese enamellers refined both the chemistry of the enamels and the firing process to permit larger, more fluid areas of color. While the use of wire remains visible in the fine details, the dominant impression is one of softness and suspension, closer to brush painting on silk than to traditional cloisonné. The unusually large scale of the vase further enhances this effect, giving the composition a quiet monumentality characteristic of the finest Meiji-period enamel works. Japan, 1868-1912. Of baluster form, finely worked in silver wire and musen-shippo (wireless), with white, red, and black enamels to depict thirteen egrets nestled together, some with their necks tucked in and others extended, their bodies subtly merging into the pale blue ground. The base and rims of partially gilt copper. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Height 61 cm During the Meiji period, Japanese cloisonné enameling reached a level of technical and pictorial refinement unmatched in the history of the medium. Earlier cloisonné depended on a network of metal wires, or cloisons, which separated the colored enamels and secured them during firing. In Japan, however, artists and workshops such as Hayashi Kodenji, Gonda Hirosuke, and above all Namikawa Sosuke transformed this inherited technique into a painterly art form. Sosuke’s most celebrated innovation was musen shippo, or ‘wireless’ cloisonné, in which the wires were either removed or suppressed during the firing and polishing process, allowing forms to dissolve softly into one another. On the present vase, the delicate silver wires defining the birds’ eyes, beaks, and plumage are combined with broad wireless passages of white enamel, creating a striking contrast between precise linear detail and atmospheric pictorial softness. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related musen enamel baluster vase with similar white egrets, 62 cm high, by Hayashi Kodenji, dated circa 1910, illustrated by Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, Meiji no Takara: Treasures of Imperial Japan, vol. 3, Enamels, 1994, no. 63, where the authors note that further “[s]imilar vases are listed in the auction catalogue of Messrs. Glendining and Co. of London, 19 April 1912. Under the section ‘Wireless Enamel’ is listed as lot 6 ‘A pair of large vases with white herons on light blue ground’.” Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Geneva, 19 February 2007, lot 139 Price: CHF 6,600 or approx. EUR 10,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the closely related egret motif and technique combining wire and musen. Note the much smaller size (35.5 cm) and that the lot further comprises a small vase (9.7 cm) that was not photographed for the Christie’s catalog. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Bonhams London, 3 November 2022, lot 234 Price: GBP 23,715 or approx. EUR 32,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related form, decoration, and motif. Note the signature and size (44.6 cm).

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