Description
Meiji Period (1868-1912)
From our Japanese collection, we are delighted to offer this three piece Japanese Silver Tea Set. The Tea Set of exceptional casting formed as Japanese Kiku – Chrysanthemums each with ribbed outer bodies, foliage leaf feet, spiralling stalk handles and lids. The outer bodies are cast with Kikou flowers and the tea pot and milk jug are finished with an intricate leaf spout. Each piece is signed to the side in loose calligraphy 三松轩造 manufactured by Akira Mimatsu who worked for Arthur and Bond. The Japanese Silver Tea Set is a superb example dating to the Meiji Period (1868-1912) circa 1900.
Arthur and Bond
were an English owned company based in Yokohama, south of Tokyo and Japan’s main trade port. Arthur and Bond excelled in the design and manufacture of high end silverware targeted to foreign visitors and export to the Western market particularly during the Meiji period. The company would design pieces that would then be executed by talented Japanese silversmiths such as Akira Mimatsu.
Chrysanthemum
is the national flower of Japan it represents the sun and the light (immortality) in Japan. It is also used as the Imperial Seal of Japan or National Seal of Japan called the Chrysanthemum Seal (菊紋 kikumon). It is the mon used by the Emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), no one was permitted to use the Imperial Seal except the Emperor of Japan, who used a 16-petalled chrysanthemum with sixteen tips of another row of petals showing behind the first row.
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
Tea Pot 11.5cm High x 17.5cm Long x 10cm Wide (4.53 x 6.9 x 3.94 Inches) – Sugar Bowl 10cm High x 8.5cm Diameter (3.94 x 3.35 Inches) – Milk Jug 7cm High x 11.5cm Long x 7cm Wide (2.76 x 4.53 x 2.76 Inches)
Condition
Excellent condition
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