Description
Museum Quality Satsuma Vase By Okamoto Ryozan
From our Japanese Satsuma collection, we are absolutely delighted to bring to market this exceptional Japanese Satsuma Vase by Okamoto Ryozan and the Yasuda Company. The good sized Satsuma Vase of tapered form with four flat sides and a waisted neck leading to square opening stood upon a square foot rim. Starting from the top of the vase, the opening is finished in gold with an unusual internal border around the inner shoulder, the top border leads to layered borders with gilt scrollwork patterns incorporating floral motifs and polychrome colours. The shoulder of the vase has two alternating patterns each with a central roundel, the first features a Hoo (ho-o) mythical Phoenix bird surrounded by polychrome leafy vines on a black glaze with tight gold scrollwork. The second alternating pattern features a central Komainu (狛犬) surrounded by four individual patterns which repeat every four intervals. At the base of the shoulder, the vase is split by a greek key gilt border meeting each individual panel of the body.
The main body of the Satsuma Vase is decorated with two large panels painted with extensive landscapes and two panels featuring a total of ten individual recreations from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido originally by Utagawa Hiroshige. The large landscapes are painted in the iconic Ryozan format with multiple figures in a river scene with blossoming flowers and a mountains landscape. The first scene features a plethora of figures in a small village mainly depicting mothers with their children. To the right hand side a tea house rest stop can be seen with males seated having their lunch as a waitress brings a pot of tea on a tray. The scene is finished with beautiful blossoming trees, foliage and multiple mountains to the background within a gilt pinstripe cartouche border. The reverse scene features a similar scene with a large river breaking through the centre of the painting amongst multiple bridges with various figures crossing including Geisha in brightly coloured kimonos and children, all beautifully painted to the highest quality. Amongst the extensive foliage, blossoming flowers and pagoda topped buildings there is a Torii gate to the centre and a further mountain to the background, the two landscape scenes likely stop offs on the Tokaido between Edo and Kyoto. The third and fourth panel feature ten individual hand painted block prints, five to each side the first upon a deep reddish-brown ground with a large scrolling vine superbly painted blossoming flower heads. The second sits on a black ground with tightly decorated gold scrolls with polychrome butterflies and floral roundels. Each hand painted block print depicts one of the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido in particular the Hoeido edition known as Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi no uchi 東海道五十三次之内. Additionally to the fifty-three stations themselves, the Hoeido series includes one print for the departure, Nihonbashi (the bridge of Japan), and a final one, the 55th print, Keishi, Kyoto, the imperial capital. Below we have inserted a direct comparison from the original series to the block prints found on our Satsuma Vase. The block prints are in order of display from top to bottom of each panel;
Each block print painting is signed with the description of the image as above, the title of the series Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi no uchi 東海道五十三次之内 which is from the original Hoeido edition by Utagawa Hiroshige painted in 1833–1834 and, 広重画 which translates as painted by Hiroshige (the original artist of the block prints Utagawa Hiroshige) along with the original seal marks. The Satsuma Vase is finished with the makers signature Okamoto Ryozan 亮山造, the Yasuda Company mark and the Shimzau crest painted on the base. The Japanese Satsuma Vase by Okamoto Ryozan for the Yasuda Company dates to the Japanese Meiji period (1868-1912) and the very beginning of the 20th century circa 1905. We are extremely privileged to be able to offer such an incredible quality vase and are confident you will agree the quality is quite the masterpiece.
Yasuda Company
was founded in 1896 by Gensei and Yoshizaburo Yasida two brothers from Kyoto. The companies full name is Yasuda Kyoto Tojiki Goshikaisha which translates to Yoshida Kyoto Ceramic Joint Stock Company. They were a manufacturer and dealership based in Kyoto and active during the second half of the Japanese Meiji-era specialising in decorative works including Cloisonne and Ceramics, today they are best-known for their Satsuma pottery wares. The company gained a good reputation and great respect for their high quality works which were executed by some of the best artists of their time. As well as Okamoto Ryozan, they worked with celebrated artists such as Sozan, Kizan, Hozan and Seikozan.
Ryozan
was born Nakamura Tatsunosuke and was trained by the legendary 10th generation potter Nishimura Zengoro who himself, used the artist’s name “Ryozan”. After Nishimura’s death in 1851, Nakamura Tatsunosuke adopted the name “Okatomo Ryozan” in order to pay tribute to and honour his master. Ryozan went on to become the Head Artist at the Yasuda Company of Kyoto where he confirmed his reputation as one of the great Satsuma artists of the generation.
SATSUMA
ware is a type of earthenware pottery originating from the Satsuma province in Southern Kyushu, Japan’s third largest island.
Shimazu Mon
Shimazu 島津 is the name of the clan family that ruled the Satsuma province and the family crest, the Mon is a cross with a circle. The earliest Shimazu Mon was painted in Gosu blue and was believed to be painted in direct relationship to the Shimazu clan and often pre Meiji Period. A mon that is depicted in black, gold or red has no direct link to the Shimazu family and always dates from a period after Edo.
The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido 東海道五十三次 Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi
The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido (東海道五十三次, Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi), in the Hoeido edition (1833–1834), is a series of ukiyo-e woodcut prints created by Utagawa Hiroshige after his first travel along the Tokaido in 1832. The Tokaido road linked the sogun’s capital, Edo, to the imperial one, Kyoto and was the main travel and transport highway of old Japan. It is also the most important of the “Five Roads” (Gokaido) Japan created and developed during the Edo period to further strengthen the control of the central shogunate administration over the whole country.
TORII GATE
is a traditional Japanese structure marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine. It symbolises the transition from the secular world to the sacred. Typically made of wood or stone, it features two upright pillars supporting a horizontal crossbeam, usually seen painted in vermillion red. There are various styles, including the simple Shinmei Torii and the curved Myojin Torii. Famous examples include the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto and the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island. Torii gates serve as a spiritual threshold, inviting worshippers into a divine space. Torii gates in Japan can be traced back to at least the mid-Heian period, with a written reference dating to 922. The oldest surviving stone torii was built in the 12th century and stands at a Hachiman shrine in Yamagata Prefecture. Meanwhile, the oldest existing wooden torii, a ryobu torii, was constructed in 1535 at Kubo Hachiman Shrine in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Komainu (狛犬)
often called lion-dogs are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Hoo
Hoo (ho-o) are known as Fenghuang in chinese are mythological birds featuring in traditions throughout the Sinosphere. Fenghuang are understood to reign over all other birds: males and females were originally termed feng and huang respectively, but a gender distinction is typically no longer made, and fenghuang are generally considered a feminine entity to be paired with the traditionally masculine Chinese dragon. In the West, they are commonly called Chinese phoenixes, although mythological similarities with the Western phoenix are superficial.
MEIJI PERIOD
was an era of Japanese history that spanned from 1868 to 1912. It was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people began to build a paradigm of a modern, industrialised nation state and emergent great power, influenced by Western countries and aesthetics. As a result of radically different ideas, the changes to Japan were profound and it affected the social structure, politics, economy, military, and foreign relations across the board. The period corresponded to the reign of Emperor Meiji and was preceded by the Keio era and was succeeded by the Taisho era.
Cultural Art during the Meiji Period was of particular interest to the government and they overhauled the art export market which in turn promoted Japanese arts via various world’s fairs, beginning in Vienna at the world fair in 1873. The government heavily funded the fairs and took an active role organising how Japan’s culture was presented to the world including creating a semi-public company named Kiritsu Kosho Kaisha (First Industrial Manufacturing Company). The Kiritsu Kosho Kaisha was used to promote and commercialise exports of Japanese art and established the Hakurankai Jimukyoku (Exhibition Bureau) to maintain quality standards. For the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, the Japanese government created a Centennial Office and sent a special envoy to secure space for the 30,000 items that would be displayed. The Imperial Household also took an active interest in arts and crafts, commissioning works by select artists to be given as gifts for foreign dignitaries further emphasising the high quality and importance of Japanese art. Just before the end of the 19th century in 1890, the Teishitsu Gigeiin (Artist to the Imperial Household) system was created to recognise distinguished artists. These artists were selected for their exceptionally high quality wares and talent in their own industry. Over a period of 54 years Seventy artists were appointed, amongst these were ceramicist Makuzu Kozan and cloisonné enamel artist Namikawa Yasuyuki.
MEASUREMENTS
47cm High x 19.5cm Square (18.5 x 7.7 Inches)
CONDITION
Excellent antique condition
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