Description
Signed with the Inaba Mark
From our Japanese collection, we are pleased to offer this Japanese Cloisonne Enamel Table Screen by Inaba. The Cloisonne Enamel Table screen with four interlocked panels each decorated with polychrome enamels upon a black ground mounted in a gilt brass frame. The panels depict a continuous waterside scene with various blossoming flowers, rocks and birds with two pheasants in the foreground. The rear of the Cloisonne Enamel Table Screen is a mottled silvered engraved with further birds and a large bamboo plant through the four panels and is signed to the bottom right with the Inaba cloisonne mark and made in Japan. The Japanese Cloisonne Enamel Table Screen by Inaba dates to the middle of the 20th century Showa period circa 1950.
INABA (Kin’UNKEN COMPANY)
The Kin’unken Company of Kyoto was founded in 1871 and was later sold to Inaba Shichiho (art name Inaba Nanaho) in 1889. Inaba had been working with the company since the late 1870s, as a former low-ranking samurai in order to supplement his inadequate wage. The company’s output was rather extensive under the leadership of Ozaki Kyubei in both designs and techniques used by other Kyoto makers together with those of Nagoya manufacturers. They often used Nagoya based subcontractors who were instructed to make works in Kyoto stye. Often this makes it hard to identify unsigned works made for the company. Both Inaba and Kin’unken were used to sign their cloisonné wares and the company became the second most important studio in Kyoto. Through both the Meiji period (1868-1912) and Taisho period (1912-1926) Inaba were awarded medals at many expositions including Vienna 1873, Paris 1878, Amsterdam 1883, New Orleans 1884, Nuremberg 1885 and St. Louis 1904.
SHOWA PERIOD
is an era in Japanese history following the Tashio period. The Showa period dates from 1926 to 1989 which corresponds to the reign of the emperor Hirohito. The two Chinese characters in the name Showa translate as “Bright Peace” in Japanese. The Showa period was succeeded by the Heisei era (1989-2019).
CLOISONNE
is a technique of decorating metalwork objects with coloured material separated by wire often made from precious metals. In the first instance the decoration is formed by creating a stencil on the metal object by affixing wires to the surface which will be visible once the product is finished allowing the artisan to craft beautiful scenes such as blossoming flowers or mythical animals by filling in the spaces with various colours. For further information please see our news article ‘Cloisonne | A Japanese Masterpiece‘.
ENAMEL
(vitreous enamel) also known as porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C. The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word vitreous comes from the Latin vitreous, meaning “glassy”.
MEASUREMENTS
18.5cm High x 32.5cm Wide x 0.5cm Deep – Each Panel 8cm Wide (7.28 x 12.8 x 0.2 – 3.15 Inches)
CONDITION
Excellent Condition
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